Jaina Planeswalker
by Deviate's Fish
Summary: This is a record of a Quest-styled role playing game I run on the SpaceBattles subforum of BROB. It follows the first person perspective of Jaina Proudmoore in her adventures as a budding Planeswalker.
1. Chapter 1

_You all do not exist. You are all voices in my head. You are the source and method of my madness_.

* * *

My whole body ached. I felt as if I were encased in wax from head to toe. It was difficult to do anything more than a twitch. I couldn't even open my eyes. Were they held shut by the crust of the discharge of my eyes or some archaic medicinal magic? I could not tell. I did not even know what magic was.

…Such a peculiar word, magic…

A scent of sterility assailed my nose. It made me feel uncomfortable, yet strangely at peace. I didn't know why. I thought… I felt that there was an undercurrent of dread within me that was slowly being dredged up from distant memories I could no longer remember. It must be something from my childhood, if I had one, which I associate with this scent. Was it a lack of scent? No, no, there was a distinct smell to this… artificial smell which I sense. It was associated with a mildly curious alchemical wash, which was used to clean certain tools in a hospital. Perhaps this was why I felt so strangely at ease with my lack of senses and ability to move?

Now, that was curious. How did I know that this was a liquid used for sterilizing? I could clearly remember seeing it in use, yet I could neither remember its name nor remember how I learned of it.

I heard a faint buzzing now, like hundreds of strange voices, twisted by a nether and just out of the reach of my humanity. Had I gone insane, perhaps? My body instinctually shuddered, but I realized I could not even do that. The voices were still here, sometimes louder, sometimes softer, like eldritch vultures watching me from beyond an incomprehensible screen that separates our realities…

…Or maybe my over imaginative mind was going off tangent. With a sudden lack of any actual knowledge, I cannot tell what was wrong or right about my mind or body.

There was a sound of a snap. It was like a thousand invisible bonds have suddenly broken, like twigs beneath a giant's toe. I gasped loudly for the fresh breathes that immediately came after, so loudly that the noise I made had echoed throughout the room.

I tried to open my eyes.

The keyword here is 'tried'. It was more like… I squinted and saw a thin, blurred line of vision. Everything was just too bright for me to open my eyes further.

The room was mostly white, but because of the dimensions of lighting and shading, parts of it seemed to be manila colored or even a slight coffee-like color. There was person standing above me, but I couldn't see him or her clearly. The person was wearing all white, except for a strange contraption on the top of his head, which looked like a skull-cap made from iron.

Did I mention that I couldn't really see very well?

"Jaina… what do I do with you?" The gender issue was solved then, because the person was definitely an older, distinguished gentleman. Or he sounded like it. Was he a noble or something then? There was a strange buzz in the air as he uttered his words, as if each breath he took was filled with something powerful just outside of my comprehension.

I was going to open my mouth, but no words came out. Stupid, stupid! I restrained myself from speaking. I felt this might be better at length, since I felt so parched that I felt like I haven't drank any liquids for weeks. Talking might actually hurt with this sandpaper that I called a throat!

"This is a complete disaster," He grumbled in an indignant tone, but somehow, he made it sound dignified too. "I knew I shouldn't have let you go off on your own to help that glorified hedge wizard."

At this point, he sounded rather upset. If I had to make a guess, I might even suggest he was angry. Or he was even furious. But I felt his crystal-like eyes staring down at me with something—even in this haze—that was unmistakably an expression of adoration.

Still, I didn't even know my own name until he mentioned it. I thought I should probably have stayed silent long enough to learn a bit more… maybe so that I won't disappoint him, at least. Though I truthfully wanted to learn more about myself, I also wondered why I did not want to disappoint him. I did not know. But I suppose this feeling was as good as any to tell myself about… well, me.

"Hrm! Yes… Healer! She's awake already! Get in here you blasted slug and see to my apprentice," He shouted above me, towards something or someone behind him. Then he leaned down, close enough that his long, white beard actually tickled my neck, and muttered, "I will allow you two weeks rest, Miss Proudmoore. That should be enough time for you to recover. I know what you are thinking, but do remember that I have always asked for your absolute best as your mentor. Now, I must see to my research and political obligations, so I shall return to Dalaran when you have recovered. Rest well."

And just as abruptly as he appeared, he was gone.

What happened next was like a blur, but not in the sense of vision. A purple robed, obnoxious sounding man walked in with a young, female assistant. He called her a "nurse", but I'm sure she is just… ah, what is the correct term…? "Eye-candy"? Of course, I couldn't see very well at that moment, so I might as well have been guessing.

The nurse stuffed several potions down my throat. It wasn't pleasant. I feel like I have a frozen, rotten fish mixed with bad tomatoes with deep fried calamari taste in my mouth now. Yuck!

Once I regained most of facilities, the doctor said I was good to go, signed me off as having a clean bill of health, and waved his hand at me. I had no time to protest, though I doubt that if he didn't know what was wrong with me, then perhaps he couldn't cure it either. There was a flash, swoosh, and even a bunch of blue sparkles, and then I was in a different room. It looked familiar and if I had to guess, I might even guess it was my room!

The first thing that I noticed was the smell of pine and rose and mahogany, of old, clean leather and the musk of heavy ink and parchment. It was a smell that I felt so familiar with that it felt… safe. There was a buzz of power in the air and I shivered. The presence of magic was powerful here, so much so that even I could feel it seeping into my pores and crawling in my skin, filtering through my mind. I could only think of one word to describe this place: home.

I was still in bed, but I wasn't in one of those tiny, sterile beds with a worn-out metal frame and pure white sheets. The bed I was in now was twice the size of the hospital bed and it had this pretty blue, ocean patterned covers on it. It was soft… impossibly so, that I thought perhaps it was either brand new, or it had been enchanted somehow to allow additional comfort. What is enchanting anyway? Well, I was too curious by this time to pause and ponder on this.

Instead, I jumped out of bed and looked around.

The room—dare I say it, my room?—was not very large by any standards, but it certainly was not small either. By a rough estimation, I would hazard it being something like around five by ten meters. I felt it was enough, especially since its walls were lined with shelves and shelves of books of all kinds and sizes. It was good that they were ordered though, because I could see some kind of strange numbering system at the spine of each book as well as a little label below each shelf that denoted what subject that shelf covered. Magic, magic, magic… there were only so many ways to say it, but they were all here, I assume. Enchanting, warding, magical theories, relevant research…

This was not some kind of a hovel for a lonely wizard to stay shut in with, that much I am certain. It was a laboratory, though a small one, I felt. There was a small work station with a small stack of notes and files.

I looked there, seeing my own name on many of them. These papers were research notes and reports! Something about… dimensions and some such… I…

Ouch. Sorry about that, my head throbbed and it hurt really badly for a moment there. I thought I remembered something, but it was like trying to hold water with your hands—without magic. The moment I tried to remember what it was, it was gone. When I looked down again, I saw the same algorithms and arcane symbols that made little sense to me. Some, the notes that were in plain text, I felt I could actually understand…

I looked outside the window just above my work station, and noticed that I was up at least ten stories in a tower somewhere. The sun was setting already, and I saw a few people milling about, most of them wearing colorful robes and doing strange, peculiar things. Several were even riding around broom sticks—of all things—at a leisurely pace around the…

The city…

Dalaran.

Wow. I… I'm in awe, er, that is, I was in awe. Not that I am not in awe that... I shook my head but I could not tear my eyes from the sight before me. I felt a slight shudder run down my spine; maybe it was because I had forgotten so much. I did not think I knew the words to describe it in all its majesty. Yes, perhaps that was for the best. It was so… grand, so majestic…

…It would be a pity if someone were to destroy it. This insidious whisper in the back of my mind called out, but it was not like the others, because it was my own. Should I have felt bad? Were these other voices even mine?

I didn't think I would know the answer. What happened to me?

Scowling furiously, I paced around the room, only to notice that I had two doors open to me. One seemed to lead to a sort of a washroom, with most of the basic amenities a lady such as I would need. I don't think the voices in my head need to know too much about this room. Ahem. Right then, onward!

The other room was a work room. At least, I think it is. It looks like some kind of a magical research laboratory, but there were so many shiny instruments here that I didn't know where to start… They all looked like they were currently docile, so I thought, if they were delicate, then perhaps I should just… walk around it? This room was not lined with bookshelves like the previous one, but it was filled with hold stockpiles of reagents and shiny, sparkly things. There was even a shelf of magic wands and magic staffs. Hm… shiny…

I placed a hand on my hips in confusion and scratched the top of my head. What do I know about myself?

_I am Jaina Proudmoore. I am an apprentice or a student of magic to a man dressed in a pure white robe with a weird metal cap thing. I am in the city of Dalaran, and I own a working laboratory here... And I had lost my memories. I lost almost all of it, from the looks of things. I don't even remember how to use magic… Do I?_

I looked up at the calendar, and noticed that it was the beginning of the 24th year of the King's Calendar. Did that mean anything at all to me? What should I do now…?


	2. Chapter 2

…Eep!

I… er, I did not just jump into the air and scream like a child who just saw a flickering shadow caused by candlelight and thought it be some hideous monster our of her imagination! I… that… this… Frankly, I am a little scared.

Did the voice in my head just speak to me? They sounded coherent, unlike before, and suggested for me to… do things. I guessed that helped with the indecisiveness that comes with lack of confidence that was a result of my memory loss. I wondered… were you, these eldritch voices, real or a mere conjuration of my own tortured mind? But I felt that I should probably move on instead of pondering on something I had no idea of how to figure out or control.

"You're a wizard, Jaina…?" I tested these words out. They felt strange, as if they carried a great burden. Did I struggle to become a wizard? I felt like I did more than just struggle; the uncomfortable feeling I associated with 'trying to become a wizard' was like trying to climb an insurmountable wall with only my hands. I did become a wizard then, though it must have been harder for me than most other people.

I allowed a light scowl adorn my face as I reached up and rubbed my eyes. Though the sun was already halfway below the horizon, I have yet to fully become accustomed to the light. As the sky dimmed, the city of Dalaran lit up like a beacon, with all sorts of fantastical, magical lights and sparkles flying about. It was something out a story book, but it also stung to look at.

My mind drifted back to my annoyance and—strangely enough—pride that stirred when I thought of myself as a wizard. I must have been incredibly stupid to have struggled more than my peers.

With this rather demoralizing thought in mind, I tried to use it to motivate myself to do better. The voices were right in this. I needed to learn, or in my case relearn, my magic. Without it, I would surely disappoint my mentor, whoever he was.

Magic? Magic it was then! Time to study! But first…

After using the facilities available to me to freshen myself, I looked around my room, searching for books and other such things. It was not a difficult task, since I had a neat, organized room full of shelves of them that even to find specific subjects were rather simple. This organization format was handy, I noted absentmindedly as I flipped through my shelves.

I was careful with the books and I only took out one at a time. My reasoning was that since I did not know how I had organized these well-kept tomes, it would probably be best if I left them the way they were rather than mix them up.

Magic, as it turned out, was a very deep and complicated subject. Out of every 10 tomes I pulled off of the shelves that had caught my interest, I could read and comprehend perhaps only 2 and of those 2, only 1 would be one that I could keep myself reading and understanding fully. It was an arduous task to read and learn about magic, but I suppose I was at least somewhat of a decent student because I seem to have drilled good study habits into my mind and body so much that even a lapse of memory could not erase that. To that end, I was able to finish a whole book in one night and I thought I practically memorized the whole thing.

It was a book that taught the basic theories of different magical disciplines; not just discussing the differences between sorceresses and wizards, but also going in depth into the different ways of utilizing magic. But it came down to two basic ways of doing it; by either using the energy within my being as a power source or using the energy around me but outside of my being. I wonder why the book does not go into describing people who do both. Surely there are those who use both the magic within and without?

…I might have skipped looking for dinner and stayed up just to learn how to play, er, that is, I mean, I was diligently studying the best ways of channeling the energy around me, like a wizard would. In truth, I was playing with making different colored balls of flames float around me all night. The first few attempts were either filled with nothing, or some fizzling smoke. Somewhere along the lines, I realized I was too focused on my hands and not on the magical formula which allowed me to bend the primal forces to my will—and light the damned candle that was at my desk. It helped that I did not know how to turn on the magical lighting of my room, so I was forced to either learn how to light the candle or to give up prematurely. It also helped that as night fell, I could not see a thing in the room, including my hands.

So I learned how to make a little fire and channel the energy all around me in the world. The book calls it 'mana', but I wonder…

I think it was after I made ten balls of flames with all the colors of the rainbow simultaneously appear around me that I passed out. Note that I was rather upset because these balls are barely enough to even light a candle—they didn't even burn my desk when I… accidentally… dropped them on the mahogany.

…Alright, I just wanted to see if I could burn things. It was a legitimate subject to experiment with! Really! I just knew the desk was protected with wards and runes…

I woke sometime during the early morning, having just too much energy and too much excitement to stay asleep any longer. My stomach growling at me to stuff something down my throat also had something to do with my early rise. I grabbed a notebook titled "Brief Review of Modern Events", which looked like something I penned myself, and dragged myself out of my room. I had hoped that I would be able to find some kind of breakfast—perhaps some blueberries, honey, and fresh bread—and update myself. But when I walked out of my door, I noticed that I was the only one who lived on this floor of the spire. In fact, the whole floor was mine… I think? There was a kind of a ritual room and then a rather untouched living room here but that was about it. Noting that I should probably learn how to teleport or at least acquire myself a flying broom, I climbed down the stairs.

'…_This will going to be hell to climb back up_,' I grumbled a mental sigh.

I looked around for some kind of sustenance, but found nothing. Why did I crave blueberries and honey? I felt that had to be some kind of deep explanation, but my still-sleepy mind found no rhyme or reason in my strange cravings. I noted that several shops have already opened this early, if what I can hear from the commerce is correct. So I wandered out of the spire and down the nearly non-Euclidean cobblestone streets towards the bustling crowds.

It was not really a crowd, so to speak. The sun had just risen over the horizon, and I could only spot maybe five dozen people in this commerce district. Somewhere along the way, I stopped paying attention to all the little details of how I got from one street to another after I smelled freshly baked bread. I swallowed slowly; it smelled of warm butter on soft, warm pieces of breakfast delights… I did not drool, of course, but I felt like I should have.

I drifted over towards the small bakery, which seemed to also have a stock of blueberries, only barely nodding to the few strange faces that greeted me mildly along the way. None of these faces evoked any memories, so I had thought them unimportant. Of course, I knew I should prioritize better, but such was the case that hunger might have overwhelmed my logical reasoning temporarily.

I was about to step into the small shop when a red robed man stepped in front of me, fully blocking the entrance. I blinked in confusion and looked up blearily to stare into the glowing, blue eyes of a fellow wizard. He had a rather pale complexion, incredibly pointy ears, and rather luscious, blond hair. I blinked twice and tried to clear the fog in my mind… he seems familiar somehow.

Oh… what could I do? He's rather handsome, but I didn't remember his name! I didn't even remember what his race was called…

"Lady Proudmoore," he nodded to me slightly before frowning down at me with a rather arrogant looking smirk. Well, maybe he was just happy to see me and elves smiled differently. That could always be it. "I know that you have just been released from the healing halls yesterday, but surely a day was enough time for you to have remembered to dress for your station?" He gestured with one hand.

I wonder what he was trying to do with that gesture. Was he trying to show that he didn't know how to saw I looked bad? Or was he trying to be graceful and came off cocky instead? Wait-a-moment…

…I turned to the windows of the bakery that was displaying a rather tasty looking apple pie and paused. My reflection looked back at me. Er, correction: a rather frazzled me looked back at me, with strands of blonde hair sticking out in weird angles (probably because I slept on my side last night) and one side of my robe just sliding off a shoulder as my reflection stared back. Ah, and I was dressed in my fluffy, baby-blue sleeping robes which were wrapped around me tightly enough, but some slips of the coarse linen of the hospital uniform that I had neglected to remove slipped through. The notebook I was carrying shifted from one hand to the other as I nervously looked down at my feet, to see two fluffy slippers with a fluffy, stylized caricature of a tiny water-elemental above each foot. And I looked like I had just gotten up five minutes ago… Actually, I woke up two minutes ago.

"Erm…" I looked back up, unsure of what to say.

It was rather amusing, and perhaps a little flattering, that the handsome elf man seemed a little flustered to see me in the disheveled state that I was in. Maybe he knows something about me? He seems nice enough; he was averting his glaze even though the only flesh of mine visible was my face. The fluffy robe even covered most of my neck! It was rather comfortable.


	3. Chapter 3

"W-well, good morning," I attempted to greet the tall elf. I felt my efforts were somewhat working, but the most I managed was a shaky smile. He calmed down at this and looked back at me with an appraising glaze, so I kept talking. I reached up and touched the fingertips of my right hand against my cheek before brushing back stray strands of my blonde locks. It must have been a nervous habit that I somehow retained, because I did it unknowingly and only noticed this when I had already done it. "W-would you like to join me for breakfast," I paused and added, "milord?"

The elf—a high elf, you say?—seemed to be a lord. He was wearing a lot of imperial colors, bright red silk covered by multiple layers of gold armor. I would wager that the armor was actually made out of pure gold from the light it made. It looked expensive, if anything, because I spied a thin layer of mesh that must have been gold chainmail under his robes. The aura of power emanating from his body also aided this assumption of mine. Three spheres of green flames circled his shoulders idly, each with nearly as much power as his being. With all of these details, I concluded that he must at the very least be important, because no one else on the streets could measure up to his power or apparent wealth.

The high elf smirked when I addressed him this way, almost as if he was triumphant. I wondered if I had erred, but he nodded approvingly at me, so I supposed that is a positive reaction. He muttered with self-important oozing from his tone, "As I have yet to partake in morning delights, it would be my honor to escort you to breakfast." He then held out an arm; was I to take it?

I waved my slender hands before my face nervously, "T-there's no need to be so formal," I felt more at ease now and it was easier for me to smile up at the majestic elf. "Perhaps, um… a friendly breakfast between good friends?" I ventured, thinking that this was the safest route.

The blue flames of his eyes dimmed ever so slightly, but he nodded again, "Very well, my lady. Let us enter this fine facility then." He turned and held open the doors to me like a gentleman. Gentle-elf? Gentlelf? I frowned mentally…

'…_My lady? I thought we just agreed to be friends?_' I did not say anything about this, of course. That would rude if anything else.

A portly, middle-aged man greeted us inside the shop. He had wavy black hair combed and slicked back, and a rather thick mustache. The shop itself was mostly wood and stone, giving it a rather earthy feeling that was comforting to sit down and linger in. The man perked up when he noticed me, "By the Light, Lady Jaina, you're alright!"

I blinked in confusion. Did I know him?

"It has been a rather slow month with you missing," the man continued, "Shall I have your usual table prepared?"

"Yes!" I squeaked out before mumbling in an ever decreasing volume, "Er, tha-that would be nice. Thanks." I added quickly.

"Ah, no worries, we have all missed you!" He added, "George, boy! Get out here!" He turned to me again and asked, "Will you be having the usual then?"

I nodded meekly. Mentally I sighed, what was wrong with me? Confidence, Jaina, you have none of it. Or maybe I did, but I lost it with my memories, I grumbled mentally.

"And I shall indulge in whatever Lady Proudmoore is having," the high elf interjected into the conversation. "If it is good enough for you, it shall amuse me at the very least."

"Er, right then," the baker nodded. "I mean, of course, Lord Sunstrider."

A lanky boy, who looked very like the baker, came out from some hidden door somewhere with a tray of breakfast foods and guided me wordlessly to a rather isolated table in the back of the bakery. It seemed like I used to dislike idle conversation, because this spot was rather hidden behind the counter and some shelves of displays.

I tried my best to feign like I was familiar with 'Lord Sunstrider', but it was rather difficult and I thought he was already slightly suspicious of me. But for some reason he ignored it. Perhaps he had some hidden agenda, but it didn't matter because he was a figurative fount of information.

At the very least, I don't think I need to read too much about the general information about Dalaran or the modern history anymore. Lord Sunstrider, whose first name I learned was 'Kael'thas', was very eager to talk to me for some strange reason. So I tried my best to reciprocate this friendly gesture by being as attentive and inquisitive as I could. I think he liked being a teacher, or perhaps he was a teacher here in Dalaran, because every time I responded to his verbal queues, his eyes seemed to light up.

Well, okay, so his eyes were already alit, but you got my point, right?

We parted on friendly terms almost two hours later and with both of us having eaten heartily. I actually realized, despite my hunger I was a rather dainty and slow eater. I hoped I didn't delay Kael'thas on any of his important businesses that he said he had to attend to. Though I wished he wouldn't be so boastful about it…

But he was a nice high elf, so I had no problems with calling him a good friend. He even reminded me of where his residence was, for me to visit so that we could get to know each other better or something. I suppose it was his strange, arrogant way of inviting me over for tea or something. It was nice of him.

I had realized that I had also forgotten to bring any sort of money… or to see if I had money at all. Eek. It was a good thing Gaunt, the baker, said that this breakfast was 'on the house'.

So it was almost late in the morning that I found myself strolling back to my humble—er… the spire actually isn't humble—my abode. A-anyway…

I idly brushed my hair back again as I sat down at my desk. There was so much to do, and so little time. I have 13 days until my mentor returned. I noted absently that I could understand about a quarter of all the papers on my desk now.

…I had been working on a project with a certain 'Assistant Professor' on the capacities of folding dimensions? No, it was something along the lines of a theory of alternate realities. I found myself rather befuddled by the papers because most of it seemed to be theories based on other theories. Well, there was also a lot of technical work, but I did not even know where to start to understand this. We were building something, or rather, the assistant professor was. I have notes here of a kind of ritual he wanted to use to prove the possibility of safely traveling between planes of existence…

I suppose this ritual was what blew up in my face and erased my memories. According to the latest report on my desk, it did not leave any traces of the assistant professor. How dangerous…


	4. Chapter 4

Magic was the most important subject I needed to learn, or relearn. For the rest of the day, I gathered my notes on what have you and tried to learn as much as I could, but I ran into a rather large stumbling block. There were so many areas of magic, and more specifically _wizardry_, that I did not know where to start.

So I read what I could on just about everything. Many of the most advanced concepts were easy for my mind to grasp, because there were no preconceived notions in my mind at all.

I was thankful for that much at least, that understanding these fundamental laws by which the universe followed and how to bend them came naturally to me.

The simplest subject was the magical formulas and algorithms that wizards studied and used to alter reality. I used relatively simple formulas to conjure a small ball of fire and then change its color. This was something that even a first year apprentice of wizardry should have known, so I found that learning it in one day should have been expected. However, the next part of the studies—that went along with how a normal wizard progressed (at least according to my notes)—was to add other formulas to the basic formulas or to learn new ones entirely.

I found that it was all too easy for me to alter the formula for a ball of candle light into a deadly bolt of fire. The equations that my mind needed to process for me to make use of this 'fire bolt' was rather straining, that it took me a second of concentration before I could evoke it into existence (unlike the candle fire, which was instantaneous). I found that I had written extra notes about how bizarre it was that people assumed wizards used gestures and incantations to cast spells when those were just bad habits wizards used to aid their concentration on their 'casting'. I would have used the word casting loosely because there was more math than mysticism here.

Alternatively, I also found that there was a theory of which all things had a degree innate to them that obstructed the flow of energy that I called magic. This theory was applied by the Dalaran wizards to create the 'warding' spells, which obstructed or resisted certain types of magic. The most basic of these spells were 'Fire Ward' and 'Frost Ward', which most of the citizens actually used to not just protect themselves from hostile magic, but also to 'ward off' bad weather. No one with the knowledge of these two spells should, theoretically, ever suffer from being too hot or too cold—though I found that these formulas were limited in the manner that they were only able to absorb a certain amount of power before they were overloaded. There had to be a different way of protection than this…

The most advanced subject that I thought about diving into—yet still part of the curriculum—was magic for bending realities. The most basic of these spells was a rather simple bending of the fabric of this reality, which I understood to be rather difficult. It was a spell that was the final hurdle for prospective apprentices to become fully pledged apprentices and be allowed to assist their mentors or others in research. It was, in a sense, the spell of 'the coming of age', for many younger wizards. This spell was called 'Blink' for the reason that it allowed wizards to move from one position in space to another, instantaneously… it was basically a short-ranged teleport. Because of the restriction in the formula that made it so easy for wizards to cast instantly, it was also very limited in how far a person could teleport. This seemed rather difficult. What if I failed? I…

There were also the rather interesting research reports that were scattered on my nice, mahogany desk. They were certain enticing and I thought, with some study, I could learn the secrets within. Drawing power from alternate realities… that would be something impressive, wouldn't it? Maybe my mentor would not even be upset with my loss of memory if I learned this…

I did not actually learn any of these subjects yet, and I certainly didn't know how long it would take me to learn them. But I did learn that while the world seemed to be filled with energy, there was a limit on how much I could draw on. Part of this limit was on how quickly I could draw energy and part of the limit was on how much I could draw on in a single day before fainting from exhaustion.

I would estimate that if each mote of candle light had an average cost of 1 'spell point', then I could draw around 2000 to 2500 a day. Maybe. I should round down just to be sure. Was that an indication of how good or bad I was? The problem I have now is that I have no standards to measure this to… I grumbled and sighed for a moment then.

Oh, wow. Look at the time! It is already passed noon; I wonder if I could still get lunch. I should find someone, like a butler or a caretaker to make me meals, maybe? Ah… that's right, I didn't even know if I had any money! S-Should I leave or should I try to find a meal in the spire?

* * *

The only voice in my head that advocated attaining sustenance reminded me of something rather important. I looked like a mess.

…I should probably clean up.

And so I did.

An hour later, I felt refreshed and clean and oh-so-neat-and-tidy. I found this strange armor-robe hanging in what appeared to be a wardrobe. There were several sets, but they were all very similar, as if it was some kind of uniform that I was expected to wear.

As I prepared to venture out of my tower, I thought about what to learn next. It was a split between attempting to learn 'Blink' and trying to decipher my research notes. After a moment's hesitation, I chose to go with learning 'Blink'. If anything, this spell had enough applications that would prove itself useful, unlike my research notes, which I found rather dubious would even result in anything.

Lunch was a quiet affair; I found a small café several spires away from my residence that was private enough that no one seemed to mind me at all. There were only a few old men eating at outside in the sun anyway, the inside was almost empty.

I found myself falling into a routine: each morning I would enjoy breakfast with Prince Kael'thas Sunstrider (who seemed to be rather proud of being a prince too apparently, though strangely enough, he treated me as an equal). Then I would return home to study the spell 'Blink'. For dinner and lunch, I would find the small café and enjoy a private little time to rest my eyes from staring at my books at notes too long.

It was good that I had made notes on the side of the books and in the margins, but some of my own notes that I had made in the past were erroneous, I found. I had a slightly more limited view of the world than I do now, that I could not imagine all the applications of 'Blink'.

The first step of the spell was to learn the formula, but I found that if I reduced the variables concerning the size and mass of the object and removed the unnecessary added parts of the spell, I could simplify the equation. So I found myself playing with a spell I dubbed 'Blink Object' on the first two days of my study.

The next step, once I thought I had a decent grasp of the theory and the formula, was to perform the spell. I had to admit now, that I had grown cocky with two days of successes, though it might have also been because of my contact and conversations with Kael'thas, because I had thought to use the same formula of 'Blink Object' for 'Blink'. I had been thinking that I had found a short cut which reduced the power constraints of the spell.

…I was wrong.

It was a good thing that I was practicing with 'Blink Object' first on the morn of the third day, because I had accidentally teleported one of my writing utensils into the door of my bedroom. When the spell was completed a piece of a second later, I realized I had fused the quill into the door.

I would admit that it was rather funny; it looked like the door had grown a feather!

But then I realized that this was probably part of the reason why there were all these other power draining aspects of the 'Blink' spell; they were all safeguards to prevent a mages trapping themselves in solid objects. There was also another aspect of the 'Blink' spell that I could remove… probably. It was the add-on of the spell which caused wizards to safely land from tremendous heights without injury. Still urged on by my own pride in my own cleverness for figuring which part of the equation it was, I attempted to isolate it.

That venture ended in a massive headache, and I gave up trying to waste time to make a spell that removed momentum. The pebble I used the tentative spell I created had burst into pieces so small, I couldn't even see the dust particles that made up the pebble.

…Ahem! Right! Anyway, I succeeded in learning the use of 'Blink' on the third day. I was still far from mastering the spell, but… Oh, I just wanted to feel successful for a moment. I sighed tiredly. I have ten days left before my mentor, who I learned was called Antonidas, will return. At this point, I knew too little about just about everything to even fake any knowledge…

* * *

…I was… that was… startling. Was… was the voice _flirting_ with me?

I felt my jaw drop a millimeter as I frowned in confusion.

I could only guess that the voices in my head were actually something not entirely me. Did this mean I needed an exorcism? I didn't really think there was a Church of the Light in Dalaran even though a large chunk—though not a majority—of the populace are believers. At least, Kael'thas said that it would have been funny and surprising if there was a church here… though I thought it would be possible that there are priests operating in Dalaran.

The mages of Dalaran often assisted the Church in seeking out and destroying… demons. Were these voices demons? Well… I did not believe they were. They didn't seem to actually be tempting me to do anything. They didn't seem to be giving me many ideas either, so…

I felt my lips twitch downward as I grumbled, '_I want to know what they are. This is… my curiosity is burning inside me to know!_'

And so, I spent the fourth day trying to find out anything that could aide me in figuring out just what you voices were. I looked for tomes and notes on spirits, but I only found my past journal records on dealing with demonic intrusions. But these demons all had a physical body which they were bound to and they would expire without that.

…So I tried to look for spirits. This did not pan out anything either, though it was rather enlightening to me that there were reports of lingering spirits which could either be exorcized or destroyed. This was supposed to be one of the lesser tasks of some kind of a knightly order called the 'Order of the Silver Hand', according to my notes. There was little information that I had in my own library about this order, though I had found a messily scribbled letter from a man named 'Arthas Menethil' who was reporting to me about how he had finally joined the order… or something.

It was a rather messy letter that seemed to be missing many details about just about everything except for how Arthas seemed to like going through the trials and proving himself just, noble, and whatever else chivalric.

…I thought the boy was probably an excited peasant who I had probably befriended before I became an apprentice wizard. That would explain how messily he wrote his note; nobility usually taught their children to write prettily, I'd think.

I tried to look for other reasons for having voices in my head, but the only reason I thought of was, '_I'm bloody insane._' This was not a medically sound conclusion and I thrived to find a different answer.

By that evening, I was rather desperate for an answer that I started coming up with fantastical theories, which all had little sense in them. One wondrous idea I had was that you were all some kind of eldritch deity from beyond this material reality, but that was rather asinine. Then I thought that perhaps the research I had done was influencing my mind, perhaps lending me insight of the voices of myself—only instead of being exactly me, you were all different versions of me from alternate realities.

Pft. Snrk. That was just too imaginative to be true, but it was possible that you were all some kind of being from a different dimension of things within this reality? My own views were skewed by the studies I had, so…

Yawn.

Wow, I was tired. A whole day wasted! Well, I would not exactly say wasted with all the extra information I have relearned, but now I have only 9 days left.

The next morning, I wakened early and started rummaging through my drawers and cabinets for personal affects that might trigger a memory or two into returning. It was not long before I found a drawer full of what appeared to be diaries. Each was filled to the brim with information… one for each year. I started reading immediately…

It was three days later that I had finished reading my 'diaries'. To say that they were diaries like that of a normal girl was like saying that Dalaran was like any other city in the human kingdoms. That was just silly. Each of these diaries was not a gossip journal, but rather they were a collection of research diaries. There were 14 of these in total; I have been studying in Dalaran for 14 years. I also learned then that I was already 24 years old.

…And after reading through all these diaries, I felt rather old.

I sighed and jumped out of bed.

"Alright Jaina," I muttered to myself, "study, study, study." The 'or else…' was left unsaid. That said, the learning now to make a 'Fireball' and the opposing 'Frostbolt' took less than half of the day. The formulas were just more complex versions of the first formula I had learned, with more variables, greater costs, and several add-ons.

At the base variable sizes, these two offensive spells made compressed balls around the volume of my fist squared, which traveled at the speed of around 25 meters per second for about 50 meters. Though I haven't really played with mixing around the variables to maximize the efficiency of the spell (these parameters were set because this was what the average mage was able to accomplish and memorize), I thought I had a hang of this.

So with around 6 days left before my mentor returned, I felt rather safe with what I knew. Sure, compared to the skill and knowledge which I allegedly had according to my diaries I was still far behind, but also according to my diaries, I had accomplished the average power of an apprentice wizard or an experienced hedge wizard.

It was around the morning of that day that, just as I was leaving my floor, an explosion rocked the spire. I looked up towards the source of the vibrations just as I crumbled onto the stairs into a heap and saw the laboratory two floors above mine emitting rainbow colored smoke as a gnome rolled out of the door from that laboratory! He rolled down the stairs like a ball and…

—The spire I was living was… well, a spire, that means that it held one spiral staircase all the way from the top floor to the bottom—

…and the gnome was seconds away from rolling into me and throwing me aside like a rampaging bowling ball to a pin.

* * *

I didn't have time to think; I just _blinked _and suddenly I was behind the gnome. He was loud enough that with each step of the stairs he bounced on (he bounced very much like a ball would), he would yelp in pain, "Ow, ow, ow-!"

The easy thing to do was to just leave him be, but…

I shrugged and before the gnome could bounce another step, I teleported my pillows from my bed to just below him. His body plopped onto the pillows before he let off a loud groan. It was probably better than to use that other spell I had... what if I blew him up?!

The gnome was a curious little thing, though their entire race was this size, he was especially short. He would barely reach up to my hips. He had… well, he had pink hair sticking up and sticking sideways as if there were three soft spikes growing out of his head. He also had a rather large goatee.

"Why… thank you so much for you aide…" He muttered in a very high pitched voice as he rubbed the back of his head. I wouldn't be able to reach that frequency if I tried! "Oh! You, you're my new neighbor, Miss… ah, what was your name? I just moved in a month ago."

I blinked and nodded slowly, "Ah… I was injured and I had just left the healing ward about a week prior. I am Jaina Proudmoore, n-nice to meet you?" I trailed off at the end. I tried to be polite, but meeting someone new was something that tried my nerves! I was very lacking in confidence, as you all well knew.

"Oh… Oh! You're the Grand Admiral's daughter!" He gasped excitedly.

I blinked in confusion. I practically heard the capitalization of the word 'Grand Admiral', as if it were more than just a simple title. "Wha…"

"Oh my, oh my! This is such an honor!" He spoke so quickly that I could barely keep up, "I read your thesis five years ago on the study of the relativity of space and its application on magics. It's a pity you didn't pursue it… what was it called? 'The Theory of Space Approaching Unlimited Conjuration Practices'?"

"…Yes?" I guessed.

"Fascinating!" He practically bounced…

…on my pillow. I pouted mentally. I slept on that! I hugged it at night! Now I needed to clean it or get a new one. Sigh.

"I must invite you to my workshop; perhaps you could share your insights on my work?" He seemed rather eager. But there was a sincerity in his tone and posture that kept me from saying something like 'oh, are you researching how to blow yourself up with rainbows?' or something similar.

On a different note, it was still early in the morning and I was still rather hungry.


	5. Chapter 5

"A-a-apologies," I bowed my head ever so slightly and gave the gnome a sad smile, "but perhaps another time? I am…" I tried to think of an excuse, but I felt really apologetic looking at the gnome's suddenly deflated excitement. Even his hair and his mustache drooped along with his shoulders! He looked so sad…

"I understand," He replied dejectedly. "You are a world class scholar and one of the best researchers in the kingdoms, and I am just a visiting teacher from the Gnomeregan Community College…"

I waved my hands quickly, "No, no, I mean, that is—we could speak later? I have several rather urgent things to attend to?" It was hard trying to think up a reasonable excuse on the spot; I wasn't successful in this.

Thankfully, the gnome accepted this. He added, "Oh, where are my manners? I am Professor Nozzlespring, it was an honor to meet you! When can I expect you?" He suddenly perked up and looked excited again.

"I'm… not sure?"

"Ah… well, I shall be seeing you around then, Lady Proudmoore," he trudged away sadly. I could almost imagine hearing somber violin music playing as he dragged himself up the stairs.

Oh well!

I couldn't find a Legerdemain Lounge this morning. Actually, I couldn't find a 'Runeweaver Square' at all. The closest to that was an Archmage named 'Ansirem Runeweaver'. There was another 'Runeweaver' too, but she was just a beginning apprentice sorceress named Catelyn.

I partook my breakfast in the little café I usually had my lunches and dinner in. When I looked around, I found that its interior was actually bigger than I had guessed. The place was actually an inn (a Hocus Pocus Inn); I was too embarrassed about my presumptions that I didn't speak another word there that meal.

I spent the rest of that day looking through Dalaran from 'the library'. There were many libraries in Dalaran though many of them were private collections. I don't think I actually found a 'public library' at all. The closest to these specifications of the voices in my head that I found was the spell library of the Violet Hold. Being the apprentice or assistant to the Archmage Antonidas seemed to help, because the wizard-guards of the hold greeted me with a respectful nod. There was a man named Alfred Copperworth, who managed the library, and he greeted me with a familiarity that seemed peculiar to me.

"Ah, Lady Proudmoore, the library has missed your presence for the past few weeks," He greeted me politely.

"Re-really?" I blinked and asked before I could stop myself. Ah, curiosity… my worth enemy!

He nodded again and smiled congenially, "Why yes, of course. If I may be frank, milady, I would like to add that I had expected you sooner."

"I… see?" I replied hesitantly.

"Now, what is it that I may help you with?" He asked.

As it turned out, I was one of the… ten or so people who had unlimited access to this great library. It was a pity that this information was not free, but supposedly anyone with sufficient academic prowess could access this place. However, there was a hidden aspect to the Violet Citadel too: those who the Citadel did not believe to be loyal to at least the city of Dalaran were given a very limited peek of the knowledge kept here. Mr. Copperworth, who insisted that I call him Alfred for some reason, was very helpful and he was a soul of discretion.

There was only a very small list of 'public' papers I had written in the past, it seemed. The paper 'Modified Coefficients of the Efficient Water Elemental Binding', the article 'Preliminary Investigation of Spatial Distortions in Lordaeron', the book 'Study of the Evolution of the Polymorph Spell', and an untitled paper that was basically what the gnome Professor Nozzlespring had mentioned earlier were the only ones that were published with my name as the author.

The more secretive research papers I had written in the past were accessed only by distinguished wizards or the Archmages of the Kirin Tor, the ruling body of Dalaran. And supposedly, I had all of these writings, both public and private, in my own room.

In the past, what I used this spell library for was basically to binge-read the theory books, which made up about three-quarters of the library. I didn't think I would have the time to do this for now. But maybe later though? I was still very interested in learning new things.

It was early in the evening by the time I had returned to my residence.

After some close inspection of the room, I found that someone (probably me) had inscribed an intricate sort of formula pattern along my walls, roofs and floors. After even closer inspection, I realized that it had been needlessly complicated, but only because of the multiple purposes that were combined into one ward-structure, for a lack of a better term.

The put it simply, this ward was made to draw energy from the environment for fuel, which should have been simple with the overabundance of magic in Dalaran.

It was primarily made for protecting me from 'Divining' magic, which was a nice way to say 'wizards who were glorified peeping toms'.

There was a secondary measure made from protecting the rooms from hostile evocations or physical damage, though I did not know how effective this protection was.

There were two tertiary measures that used minimal energy, but would only be on when I activated them… by clapping my hands.

…I felt really stupid right now.

The two lesser measures were: to firstly preserve the humidity and temperature of the rooms to be an optimal condition for living and to secondly light up the rooms with efficient lighting that did not strain my eyes. I could snap my fingers to turn the light off.

So I spent the rest of the night trying to learn how to snap my fingers. My thumbs and middle fingers were so chafed right now.

I also found an ornate staff with a giant, glowing, green crystal at one end. I thought it seemed rather familiar in my hands and I found myself swinging the staff around a few times in a manner that denoted that I actually knew how to wield it in combat. How curious…

Before I went to sleep, I also spent a little time to read my most recent diary and notes. I felt calmer now, reading these notes, because I realized that after all these days of intense studying, calculating, and memorizing, I had found myself understanding most, if not all the notes I had made myself. The notes told me of how convoluted my studies were, because it was, in essence, an experiment in drawing power from a theoretically infinite source of energy. I noted that the ritual which the notes were preparing for had neglected to start with the experiment on a lesser scale first, and…

I frowned. The experiment of the Assistant Professor was looking into drawing enough energy to power all of Dalaran and all of its residents at the same time. It was a wonder that this city still existed! Though, I noted that some of these calculations were done in different measurements, or at least one of the numbers was off… Didn't we have anyone check over these calculations before hand? Actually, from what my diary said, _I_ was the one who was supposed to check the numbers.

…Ugh. Now I really felt stupid.

As a side note before I went to sleep for the night, I knew what physics are! How else would I be able to bend _space_ in the first place? And… I didn't have bad taste in friends… did I? Kael'thas seems like such a gentleman… oh, and I found a silly little doodle of a paper that I wrote entitled 'plans to making an ever-expanding bag of holding' next to a purse. The purse was simple enough with no hints of magical tampering, though it was more like a fist-sized leather pouch than an actual purse. There was 55 coins of gold inside. They were shiny, hehe…

It was five days until Archmage Antonidas returned now.

* * *

'_T-Tell Kael?! I… I don't think I can…_' I walked at half of my usual pace to the breakfast bakery, and noticed that Kael'thas had been waiting for me for a while now. He looked rather upset to have waited so long, but the annoyed expression left his visage the moment we made eye contact.

He smiled prettily at me and held the door for me like a good friend and we sat down for the meal. He began talking for a while, but it wasn't long before he stared at me strangely causing me to squirm more. He frowned down at me and asked in a gentle tone, "Jaina, I would not usually press the matter with a delicate flower such as yourself, but your behavior this morning is most strange. It has piqued my curiosity, so I ask: what is the matter?"

"W-was it that obvious?" I mumbled rather shyly. I felt myself growing flustered as my cheeks began to heat up. I quickly added, "Milord?"

"No," Kael shook his head, "but we have been at least acquaintances for more than a decade now, milady. And remember, call me Kael, Jaina." He added with a radiant smile.

I brushed a few stray strands of hair back nervously. You voices have told me to confide in him, but… but… Oh, Light, I didn't think it would be this hard! But… he was a good friend, right? "W-well, it is a private matter…" I saw his face become blank without expression at this, so I hastily added, "B-but I would feel better if I could tell you… in private?"

He nodded, looking pensive. I hoped he wouldn't blame me, but the voices did have a point. I wanted his trust, so maybe I should give him my trust first?

"…So I sort of… kind of… lost my memory." I trailed off speaking in progressively lower volumes.

Kael'thas blinked at me incredulously and asked in a short lapse of dignity and posture, "You what?!"

So I told him the truth of what happened. I told him that the research I had been working on caused me to lose nearly everything I was, and that all I had was what habits I had ingrained within my body and the little tidbits of feelings that guided me.

"So this is why you…" He nodded slowly as his faced closed off to me. I felt like he was scrutinizing me. What was he looking for? He sighed tiredly and turned away from me, with his expression still unreadable, and said, "I must think about this. If you'll excuse me, Lady Proudmoore, I will… I shall contact you on a later date." His eyes looked… conflicted.

"I-wait, Kael…" He left before I could say anything else. I mumbled a sorry, but only my door heard me. What was I even apologizing for?

…Well, that could have worked out differently. I sighed and laid down on my bed, suddenly feeling emotionally drained. Was it always this difficult to talk to friends? Thank the Light I did not have a crowd of them then…

The rest of the day was spent on reciting the formulas related to the Frost Nova spell. As it turns out, most of these evocation spells correspond with one of three elements: heat, a lack of heat, and pure magical energy, or as the texts call them, 'fire, ice, and arcane'. Once the basic formulas were learned, the formulas that built up on them were rather simple to understand, at least for myself.

That said, it took me almost a whole hour to master how to use the 'Frost Nova' spell that you seem so keen on me learning. It froze all matter around me for almost five full minutes before the energy I used to form the spell dissipated and I canceled the spell. For the sake of symmetry, I worked on making a fire spell that would do the opposite of 'Frost Nova' for the rest of the day but…

Well, I couldn't really call it 'Fire Nova'. The spell did not involve any actual fire because, like I stated, I was not actually making a fire spell, but the 'opposite of Frost Nova'. So instead, I had a spell that caused an invisible ripple of energy around me that evaporated matter around me. That wasn't a good way to describe it, but I had turned a two by one meter section of my laboratory wall into smoking, black liquid. It was rather disgusting and draining, so I tried to look up the 'orthodox' version of the spell of 'Frost Nova' to see what I was doing wrong.

…So I may have added some unnecessary parts to the algorithm and I might have tripled the cost of the spell. It lasted longer than the '5 to 10' seconds that the book taught!

I spent the night looking through my older records like you suggested. The first thing I found out was that this 'Arthas Menethil' was a prince! You were right! He is the crown prince of the kingdom of Lordaeron… I boggled at this revelation. Then I found that I was actually the second heir of the kingdom of Kul Tiras! And my eldest brother was dead?

…I felt really tired.

The next morning, a knock came to my door. I stared blearily out my window and muttered, "I wonder who it is… It's still dark out…" I rubbed my eyes tiredly and dragged myself out of bed. The sun had not even risen yet. With a snap of my fingers (I've gotten really good at snapping), the rooms were illuminated by a bright, white light and I opened my door.

At my door was Kael'thas. The first hasty words out of his mouth were, "I'm sorry Jaina. I shouldn't have left so abruptly yesterday. Can I come in?" He looked like he has slept at all. His eyes were a little red and I noticed that his fine, golden hair looked like it had not been combed in a while.

* * *

"Please," I stepped aside and started walking into my living with a yawn, "Come in."

"Jaina, wait," Kael'thas nearly shouted, "This will just take a moment."

I turned back, "Hm? What is it?"

"Mental magics is not my forte," Kael'thas paused, as if the next few words had cost him a piece of his soul to say, "In fact, I am horrible at this. It is not an area we mages explore, outside of attempting to empower our own intellect. I know that the priestly orders within the Church of Light would be able to afford you more help because they use their divine magic for such things. However…" He pulled out a necklace made from a thin chain of some kind of silvery metal that glowed too brightly to be natural. "There is a spell we High Elf used when our races first encountered."

"What… what is this?" I asked in a hushed whisper as he dropped the necklace in my palms. There was a small, unmarked amulet at the center with a single sapphire set within. The sapphire was engraved with a single rune encircled by a set of smaller runes. The magical algorithm behind the construction of this piece of jewelry was simple, but I was no master of runes. It was something I never would have thought of.

"It is a gem holding a permanence spell on the enchantment within," Kael'thas explained tiredly, "The center rune is similar to the spell of Arcane Intellect, but the enchantment focuses the spell. In essence, it aides you in recognizing and memorizing patterns."

"…Which is how your wizards learned our language so easily," I blinked in surprise.

Kael'thas nodded, "Yes. If you compound this focusing effect with the master spell 'Dalaran Intellect', you should achieve the effect of remembering your own memories… or at the very least… I think so."

"Oh, Kael," I mumbled, "Thank—"

Kael'thas grunted in a very unprincely manner and waved my gratitude off, "That is not necessary. Jaina, Lady Proudmoore, I will be busy with my duties for the next month. I shall see you afterwards, perhaps." Then he turned and left. I felt like I had wronged him somehow…

Oh, but the billowing effect of his cloak was very… very… awe inducing, perhaps?

I draped on the necklace and went back to sleep. I was not a morning person.

Taking the advice of the voices in my head (this phrase made me feel like I had already lost my sanity), I began reading my own writings and notes on the spell for 'Water Elemental'. Apparently when a wizard graduates from being an apprentice, many of them take on certain challenges to prove themselves, sort of like a thesis paper, but with practical means.

In that sense, when I was 14 years old, I had attempted to become a fully pledged wizard by crafting my own Water Elemental. There were other projects I could have taken, such as creating a permanent portal, crafting a guardian golem, or crafting a new ward-structure… but I had chose this spell back then.

The reason I chose the 'Water Elemental' spell, according to my diary, was because it was the most versatile. I had planned to make a servant more powerful than most wizards thought a servant should be allowed, and I thought to give it more free-will. Because in a sense, if it could think of simple plans and yet still retain loyalty, it would be more useful than the simulacrum that most wizards crafted their water elementals into.

I realized that I had already crafted my water elemental, and that there were more than one. They were all currently residing in the Plane of Water in this reality. At least, that was what our current research said…

But unlike other wizards, I had made more additional changes to the spell. I had crafted not one, but nine of these… beings.

The first spell was a massive water elemental that could flood the entire spire I was currently residing in. It normally took the form of a hovering vortex of ice chards and water, with two pillar-like limbs on each side. This was my crowning achievement at 14; it was the only water elemental I knew of that could stay in our plane of reality indefinitely while still tied to the will of a wizard. I also had added another function to it so that it could conjure morning tea for me.

The other water elementals I crafted were my proof for my paper 'Modified Coefficients of the Efficient Water Elemental Binding'. With merely 50% greater power requirements of the 'orthodox' spell, this spell called out eight smaller water elementals, each with the performance ability of perhaps one third of the base spell. However, they only lasted half as long as the normal water elemental before they exhausted their power.

…There was less than a day left before my mentor returned to Dalaran. Time flew by too quickly when I was having fun studying, it seemed. The amulet Kael'thas provided me was a world of help. I don't think I would have been able to completely learn how to cast both of my water elemental spells in even two weeks if not for it. Instead I learned in two days. There was little time left now, but I wished I could just keep studying for the rest of my life…

But I guessed life wouldn't be like that. You voices said some curious and frightening things about Arthas and Kael'thas… was there to be trouble brewing in the near future? Should I… should I have learned how to fight? I felt like a clumsy oaf walking around with my staff, but it seemed to have some mystic powers that helped me in calculating the algorithms and in channeling the native energies. Now that I thought about it, the my cloak and my ornate 'battle' robes both seem to have similar enchantments—that not only protect me from various elements, but also seem to speed up my thoughts and my ability to gather spell power. With this full regalia on, I could almost double my ability… I was sure that if I had time and the right materials, I could learn how to make better ones though…

Still, there's just one day left now.


	6. Chapter 6

On the last day, I couldn't find Kael'thas at any of the places we used to meet. I also tried his residence, which was actually in the High Elf embassy, but he wasn't there either. The High Elves, or 'Quel'Dorei' as they liked to be called, were really nice to me for some reason. I even met a nice quel'dorei guard there who seemed really interested in talking with me. Though she didn't look very elf-like, she looked more like a mix between a human and an elf. I kind of recognized her because her eyes were really like mine…

Anyway, that was my little morning stroll, to keep my mind off of the weird things you guys talked about. Legions of undead? That would take so much energy to raise and maintain! I knew from my diaries that there were occasional minor necromancers that the Kirin Tor would hunt down, but they could raise a single skeleton at best, being merely sorcerers.

The wizard Kel'Thuzad leaving the Kirin Tor was actually a very big deal a year or so ago. He was actually rich enough to be considered a minor noble and he was a very talented wizard, but… but… he was very interested in undeath…

…At least I met another nice elf like Kael'thas, and this time, she was a girl-elf too! Finnall was a daughter of one of the aristocratic high elf sorceresses who led the Sorcerer's League. She seemed to be really interested in my Father for some reason…

Oh, alright. Phooey… I didn't want to think about all this bad futures happening, but I still couldn't see myself being a leader of people. I couldn't even lead myself around Dalaran!

The voices in my head were really smart for bringing in Professor Nozzlespring on my expanding bag idea. I actually didn't have any of the reagents for making the bag, but he seemed to be really well stocked in the ingredients necessary. Well, that and he was more familiar with the runes that were needed to be used than I was. I couldn't find my equipment for even making the runes and using my staff for this would have been too heavy handed… I supposed that if I were to use my staff to do it, I could expand a room? Though, I don't think that would work…

Anyway, Professor Nozzlespring was delighted to see me and he even put off his project (he was trying to make a machine that could fly by adding onto the 'Mechanostrider' design and then somehow also tried to make this machine lay eggs that would explode.) to work with me on this. Since I did a majority of the theory work, he just needed to find the correct runes for what we needed and the different agents that we needed to bind this spell formula to the bag. It turned out to be rather needlessly complicated because the Professor concluded that there were no runes for what we needed and we would have to make a new one ourselves.

…So pretty much, very little happened today.

The next day, after I had breakfast, an arcane elemental in the shape of a small humming bird flew up to me and landed on my shoulder. I was so surprised that I just stood there, trying to figure out how it worked, because it looked like it was a natural phenomenon. Then it opened its beaks and said in the voice of my mentor, "Jaina, bring your equipment and come to the Violet Citadel. We shall leave via teleportation today. The job is to investigate a temporal rift."

I scratched my head at this. Should I…? Just in case, I grabbed an old, worn-out book bag that was laying around in my living room and stuffed it with a couple of books that were related to time travel and magical time theory and 'blinked' over to the Violet Hold. I wouldn't want to be late.

I found my mentor sitting in a pavilion on the third floor drinking tea and being attended to being attended to by the Butler Copperworth. He harrumphed when he saw me approach, "It's about time you got here. Do you know how embarrassing it is to have heard from Anasterian of all people that you temporarily lost your memories? The braggart wouldn't shut up about it for _hours_, I tell you. Are you ready to go now?"

"Y-yes?" I mumbled. Anasterian? Wait… wasn't that Kael's father? I frowned.

"Very well, then," Antonidas stood up and gave Copperworth a nod, "The tea was delightful. I shall return once I have set my apprentice on her new task."

Then suddenly the worth _shifted_ around me. It was a strange sensation, not unlike being stuffed through a tunnel that was too thin for me to possibly fit into. Several bright blue and white lights flashed around me before I could see anything clearly. I noted that Antonidas was holding my shoulder to keep me from falling down as the sensation ended.

"You've relearned your old habit of stumbling out of transition," He stated as if he was disappointed already. I felt my left cheek twitch in embarrassment. "And now you're brushing your hair back; by the Light, Jaina, are you relearning _all _your bad habits?" He sighed, "no matter, follow me."

We were at a small castle. I would hesitate to call it a castle; it was more like a small fort. A distinguished man walked out, with a small company of foot soldiers wearing the colors of Lordaeron. He had a mane of black hair and a curious scar running down from his right eyebrow to his right cheek. He greeted my teacher with a feigned happiness that was apparent to me and roared, "Archmage Antonidas! What a… pleasure… it is to have you here. What can I do for you? I am a very busy man."

Antonidas did not make any outward expressions but I heard him cluck his tongue softly in annoyance before saying loudly, "Lord Aedelas Blackmoore, a temporal anomaly was detected here at your Durnholde Keep a few weeks ago, and my student is here to aide in the investigation, along with the strange disappearances of several of your lieutenants."

"There is no need for that," Blackmoore growled, "I've got this under control—"

"We are no here to investigate your escaped orc slave, Aedelas," Antonidas interrupted, suddenly sounding very irritated and impatient, "Yes, you should be thankful that such matter does not reach the king."

"…Fine," Blackmoore grunted, "Your student can stay for a day, but I won't provide for any longer."

"She will need to study the various effects, which may take several months, Lord Blackmoore," Antonidas intoned, "Some of the effects of this anomaly need to be prevented, else you may not have a keep to your name much longer."

"Now see here," Blackmoore's face grew flushed, "You see here, ya old…" One of his attendants whispered something into his ear just then and Blackmoore scowled. "Fine! Two weeks, I'll let your little agent stay here for two weeks."

Antonidas nodded and turned to me with a shrug, "That's about the best anyone will be able to get out of the man. There are many small intrusions, but there are two noted lesser rifts and one major one west, at the Tarren's mill. Jaina, I need you to investigate this, because it may be not just related to the lethargy of the orcs, but something… I suspect a foul hand in the events here. The Lord Blackmoore is not exactly happy, having recently lost his prize fighter, an orc by the name of 'Thrall'. I would have come myself, but politics will keep me locked in Dalaran for the next three weeks." He paused, "And you may wish to arrange for your own lodgings at Tarren's mill than at this keep. I shall expect you to report to me every other day. Good luck."

He handed me a small file of papers with the label 'preliminary investigations of temporal anomalies near Durnholde Keep', before teleporting away. I guessed he trusted my abilities, was too busy with other matter, or just didn't want to deal with me. I hoped it wasn't the last one…

I looked up at saw Blackmoore glaring at me. He smelled of alcohol… had he been drinking… in the morning? "Well? Get to it, girl. You'll not get any free lodgings in my keep." Without another word, he turned and walked back into the keep, leaving me slightly annoyed and a little confused.

* * *

Riding a Water Elemental around was the more awe inspiring feeling I have felt in a while. It was like flying in water, except none of the water actually made contact with my body. I didn't think I would have been this disappointed to have to walk around, but there you go…

So I arrived at Tarren Mill sometime during noon of that day and found a farmstead with some spare lodgings I bought out for several Lordaeron silvers, the problem I found then was that I only have gold, and they had no change for that. So instead, I hired the daughter of the household for my duration here as a guide included in my lodgings and meals for a gold coin. Apparently the current exchange rate in this village was 1 gold to 85 silvers to 510 coppers.

The girl who became my guide actually looked very like me, except she had her hair tied in a ponytail. Tari Foxton was a rather intelligent woman in her own right, and she was living with her father, who was an officer at Durnholde Keep. She was nice enough to help me navigate around Durnholde and Tarren's Mill, though having a powerful, four meter tall Water Elemental with eerily glowing eyes following me around also helped intimidate the ruder soldiers into not blocking my way at every turn. It seemed like the Lieutenant General Blackmoore wanted to have me watched very closely for some reason.

I noticed strange bruises on Tari's wrists, but she didn't seem to mind, so I didn't bring it up in idle conversation.

The food here in Tarren's Mill is fresher than that of Dalaran's but the taste was rather lacking. Spices were an expensive commodity, and even salt and pepper were used sparingly. The fruits here fresher here but I did not notice much difference. I thought the atmosphere and the surroundings were what made me feel like the food tasted better.

On the eve of the first night, I had finished reviews of the notes that Antonidas had given me. There were two minor rifts located around the interior of Durnholde Keep and the major one was actually at the center of Tarren's Mill. I noted that the report also stated that there were evidences of magic use in both locations, which was strange because the orc should not be able to use magic. There was an attached note about the orc, saying that he was raised by the Lieutenant General for a barbaric fighting ring since he was an infant. The mage who made the report suggested that the Lieutenant General wished to use the orc as some kind of a war leader to control the orcs, but there were no proof of this outside of servant gossip.

The anomalies themselves were not noticeable under mundane vision, but for those who practiced magic dealing with time, being within close proximity of these rifts left them with a stinging sensation in the back of the mind.

…seeing as I had a massive headache when I approached the center of Tarren's Mill, I guessed that I used to be a practitioner of such magic, to some extent at least.

The reports called for another agent to personally investigate these sites and to find evidence of what actually occurred here. The rifts alone were innocuous enough, but they were not the works of Dalarani agents, thus if these were works of different, more sinister forces (whatever they may be), this needs to be noted and investigated.

When I arrived at Durnholde Keep on top of my faithful Water Elemental steed, I noted that there were evidences of a magical skirmish here. The roads had several scorch marks often associated with the mage spell 'Pyroblast' and there were roots that seemed to come out of parts of the ground even though there were no plants nearby. This was a form of magic, I had thought, but I did not even know what kind of magic would be able to manipulate nature in such a way.

When I asked the Durnholde Keep sentries, they seemed to think that these marks had always been here, but they could not remember how they got here. When I asked them to delve deeper into their memories, the sentries seemed to become more agitated. One of them actually lost control of their posture and attempted to attack me.

A gurgling roar from my faithful servant stopped the man and a blast of water seemed to clear his mind. He acted as if he did not remember what he was doing. I felt that there was a kind of magic that also influenced the mind at work here, because my Water Elemental seemed to be telling me that the soldier really did not know what happened from the way the man's heart was beating. I think I should investigate my own Water Elemental further in the near future.

I wanted to investigate the barracks in Durnholde Keep too, but the soldiers within barred my way, saying that parts of the keep had been demolished and were currently under construction. I saw no masons around here, however…

There were also reports of an attack by a small party of bandits on a patrol of Lordaeron sentries along the road from Durnholde Keep to Tarren's Mill. Whoever these interlopers were, they were not very subtle. I heard some of the soldiers also muttering about how the quartermaster of the armory had also been assaulted. I wonder if I should try to interview the man, though I did not know where to look because the barracks were closed off to me.

In the courtyard of Durnholde Keep and just outside its gates, I noted that these two areas were where the majority of the magical skirmishes and minor anomalies were mostly located. Just outside of the gates, I noted a strange print in the ground that was not a horse hoof or a foot print. I was not a tracker or a hunter, but it looked like a large lizard's foot print.

I would also note that the internment camps within Durnholde Keep were burned down by mundane fire around the same time that these magical effects must have taken place. These physical evidences just left me with more questions…

* * *

'_I… I see…_' I felt like fainting for a moment there. Perhaps sitting back on my Water Elemental would do some good. I should figure out a way to communicate with it, would such a thing be possible? Perhaps then I could have an everlasting companion…

An hour or so later, I traveled up the path back to Durnholde Keep. The distance between the small village that had sprang up from around Tarren's Mill to the Keep was short enough that the village was considered to be in Lieutenant General Blackmoore's demesne yet it was far enough that it took me most of a few hours to reach the Keep while riding my elemental. It was late into the spring now, most of the fauna and flora of the land had blossomed and I could smell the pollen and hear the buzzing in the air. I took the time that I was required to travel as a moment of peace and quiet that I could use to think, meditate…

…Oh, poo. I couldn't sit still five minutes! Just moments after I would close my eyes, I would either doze off or start fidgeting until I would start looking around again. I grumbled mentally, '_I don't think I'm made for meditation._'

For the rest of the day, I spent performing various tests on the soil and the air using both alchemical methods and magical methods. I was able to determine that out of the two skirmishes, the one at the gates was greater of the two. Both involved at least one small group of bandits, no greater than five in number ambushing another being of greater power.

There were also several even smaller skirmishes, but most of the evidence of these happenings was nearly gone due to the interruptions and the doings of the local soldiers. I wondered if these things had been covered up by the Lieutenant General, but I didn't think he was smart enough of a man to know how to cover up traces of magical battle. He wouldn't know how, to begin with.

The larger of the two minor battles happened between what seemed to be a skirmish between two small parties.

One of them had at least one member who could bend nature to their will. I would hesitate to call it magic, because I did not find any traces of arcane energy in the battle field related to the physical evidence of unnatural… natural occurrences.

There had been at least one member of that same group who utilized evocation magic, from what the scorch marks on the ground could tell me, since it was evidence of the 'Pyroblast' and 'Fireball' spells being aimed at a target entangled by unnatural roots sprouting from nothingness. There were also several traces of arcane energy in the air, denoting that someone was crude enough of a mage to cause an explosion with pure arcane energy.

Finally, I noted two opposing forces of what seemed to be a yellowish energy that I could only attribute to 'Holy' powers. The problem is that there were no members of the Paladin Order in the vicinity of this demesne and even the nearest priest was in Tarren's Mill. The cruel atmosphere around Durnholde Keep was repellant for most priests to even want to approach, let alone dwell here.

The evidence left me puzzled.

I would guess that the largest skirmish in Durnholde keep was a fight between an unknown party of around four to eight members against a party of two to four members of the soldiers missing from the keep. Judging from the evidence, the unknown party had appeared first within the keep, before smashing through the barracks and out of the gates. They had at least three members who performed magic of some kind, though only two of which I thought I could recognize. They also had one member who seemed to be of the Paladin Order.

The known party also contained at least a priest and a paladin, though there were no other members of the party who used arcane magic. From the evidence leading out of the keep, I would say that this known party had been annihilated by the unknown party…

I returned that night and penned out a summary and a report for what I found this day. There was not much else that happened, though I noticed that Tari seemed to have fallen off a flight of stairs and had looked like she had been struck by a doorknob earlier today. She had a black eye and a weird limp, but she seemed to smile it off as an unfortunate accident. I sure hoped so; I couldn't see anyone actually hating the nice girl. She must have the worst luck in the world…

Sometime during the night, a high elf in a brown robe approached me before I went to sleep. He looked rather tired, but he was also holding a black, stone staff with a glowing yellow orb at the end in a rather unfriendly manner. When he saw me, he gasped, "You!"

"…Me?" I blinked in surprise.

He growled, "You…"

I frowned, "Me?"

"You?" He paused, "Y-you're Jaina Proudmoore!"

I blinked again and nodded slowly, "Yes, I am. Do I know you?"

"No, but I know you, wizard," He grunted before taking a hostile stance. "You don't belong here. Why are you here? No, no. I will have to do this myself." Then, before I could react, he bonked me on the forehead with the tip of his staff.

"Ow!" I clutched my bruised forehead. '_It doesn't hurt, it doesn't hurt… ow… it does hurt._' I felt a few tears threatening to leak out.

"Oh dear, that wasn't supposed to happen," He frown at me. He seemed to be pretending as if I wasn't speaking or something. "I suppose you are resisting my spell? I will need to erase your memory of me. Then I'll fix this. Yes, you shouldn't be here… but first, I will need to knock you out…" His staff began to glow with an eerie light as strange magical energy gathered in his hands.

'_Oh phooey… what do I do now?_'

* * *

My modified 'Frost Nova' spell was a spell that occurred instantly, so I was able to make its effects happen before the strange high elf (who I just noticed did not wear anything on his feet) could cast anything. The effects were instantaneous: jagged spikes of ice shot up in a ring around me, slashing into the furniture and walls of the home. They were both composed of wood, which was nearly instantly shattered and then frozen in place as the air frozen around each splinter.

The spell had caught the high elf unawares. One of the jagged spikes had pierced his lower calf causing bronze colored blood the spill for less than an instant before his leg was frozen into place. There was another spike which stabbed into his free arm, which caused his spell to go off prematurely—a beam of golden light flashed above my head narrowly missing me.

"Eep!" I shrieked and ducked down even though the spell had already passed me.

When I looked up, I noticed that the high elf had a very pained look on his face. There was another spike that narrowly missed his stomach, and had gone between his legs. This was not to say that there weren't almost two dozen other, smaller spikes which formed up at his feet. The ice had nearly encased his body, leaving only his head and neck free. His staff seemed to let off a pulse of energy, which allowed that hand to be free, though he didn't seem to be able to do anything else.

'_Not that I'm going to let you, you rude person!_' With a wave of my hand, the staff appeared above his head, stuck in the roof. I frowned, "Oops."

"Rrgh, let me go, you insolent child!" The high elf growled when he realized the icy spell was not dissolving.

"No, w-wait, let me try that again, okay?" I waved my hands hurriedly. This time, I leveled the reappearance of the staff low enough that the blink spell wouldn't leave half of it stuck in the roof. The glowing head of the staff fell on the high elf's head and let off a bright flash, causing me to cover my eyes.

I heard the ice shatter.

When I looked up, I saw something really, really strange. Instead of a high elf standing there, there was a tiny bronze-skinned dragon whelp lying in the shards of ice. It looked like it had passed out. The staff looked like it was broken; the gem on the head of the staff seemed to have shattered. And… there's a lot of ice everywhere. In the hall. On the second floor of Tari's house. Just then, I heard someone walk in the door downstairs, "I'm home, Jaina!" It was Tari's sing-song voice.

"Uh…"

* * *

Hua. Phew. Hua. Phew. Hua…

'_Hey, I am just taking deep breathes like you suggested! I am still not even close to calming down though. I don't know what happened, but now I can't seem to be able to stop being excited for some reason!_' I gapped down at the fainted bronze dragon whelp. Phew…

I tried to 'blink' away the staff into the room I was staying in, but I can only move one thing at a time. The little shards of the orb were scattered all over the floor and they were kind of hard to distinguish from the shards of ice because they were similar in shape and color. It was to me wiggling my fingers at the pile of shards that Tari walked in on.

"Um…" I started to say slowly, "…This isn't what it looks like?"

Tari placed her hands on her hips, looking very irritated, "D'you mean you haven't just fought a life-and-death battle, and you're cleaning up right now?"

"Er, I'm trying to clean up, but it wasn't really a…" Seeing her stern glare, I wilted. I stuttered to add more however, "I mean, yes, that's what happened…"

Suddenly, Tari rolled her eyes and smiled at me, "Oh, calm down, Jaina. You don't have to worry, I'm not mad or disappointed."

I didn't even realize that I was worried about that until she said it. In fact, I didn't even know I was holding in my breath until she started giggling. Oh! So this was what they called 'friendly teasing'! I have heard about this! Tentatively, I also giggled shakily, "Oh, well, that's um… good. Yeah, that's good!"

"You're still cleaning this up though," Tari started to say.

"Of-of course!" I interrupted, "T-that's what I'm doing right now!"

"Good," Tari crossed her arms in a gentle, mocking stance, "Because Light knows I can't do it. Though, do you need any help?"

I was just happy Tari wasn't mad. So I replied, "NO! Er, I mean, no, I'll be fine, thanks!"

"Alright then, I'll see you later, Jaina," Tari winked and limped down the stairs.

How strange… her limp seems to have gotten worse. She also had these weird bruises on her neck. I wondered about that… they look like hands for some reason… Was she being attacked by a ghost or a spirit or something? I should read up on this later.

Now… how was I supposed to get out of this ring of deadly, icy spikes? '_Are you a wizard or not, Jaina? Blink!_' I got out pretty quickly, though the ice had not moved at all. It will stay solid and freeze anything that would touch it for more than a quarter of an hour more. I tried to heat it up, but fire on its own didn't seem to have any effect on the ice. I didn't think I wanted to risk Tari's house with anything more either…

Not five minutes after I placed the baby dragon on my bed, it opened its eyes. I hadn't done more than tuck it in, because its body was so fragile looking that I didn't think it could break out physically. Then it looked up at me, with these large, golden eyes and yelped, "Wark!"

"Um… are you going to not attack me anymore?" I asked hesitantly.

"Wark!"

"… Is… Is that a yes?" I blinked in confusion.

"Wark!"

I sighed and stood up. Its eyes followed my face the whole time, and it did not move at all other than to open its mouth at me. After a few seconds of mouth opening, it would close its mouth and then look at me expectantly again. It sure had some sharp looking teeth. "You could speak earlier, why not now?" I wondered aloud.

"Wark!"

"… Yes, yes, you've said that already," I muttered. "I wonder if Tari has eaten yet?"

"Wark!"

I blinked. Oh! Was it expecting me to feed it? But it just tried to… it just tried to erase my mind! I frowned, "I hope you're not doing this to make me lower my guard…"

"Wark!"

"Don't look at me like that! I don't have any food on me," I reeled back. Its eyes were so wide and watery! I had to use all my will to resist petting it.

"Wark!"

Sigh… At least the ice would be melted soon. I still needed to fix the furniture and the wall somehow. The walls… there was a giant gaping hole in one side of the walls.

"Wark!"


	7. Chapter 7

"Your investigation is slower than how you used to accomplish things, but this is expected," Antonidas grumbled.

As it turned out, the village of Tarren's Mill did have a stock of 'Scroll of Town Portal', but the major was rather unwilling to freely part with them. Instead, he asked me to either bring two back from Dalaran or to compensate the village with 13 gold and 50 silvers (I heard that it was cheaper in Dalaran, where these were generally made in the first place). After grabbing one, I had immediately rushed to my teacher, but not before I had fed the bronze skinned critter that rolled around in my temporary lodgings. It was a hassle to take care of that dragon whelp because it seemed to want to follow me wherever I went. How clingy!

I nodded, "Sir, I…"

"No, no, the quality is still at least up to the minimal standard," Antonidas grumped before taking a puff out of his pipe. We were currently in his office at the Violet Citadel. "It is good that you kept the Bronze Dragon out of your written report. This is a good opportunity to study these illusive creatures."

(Actually, I had just forgotten to add that part of my experience to my report in my hurry to return.)

"As to the speed… I know you are troubled by your memory loss. There are perhaps only four people outside of this office who know of this condition," Antonidas said, "The high elf prince, his father, your father, and the healer who treated you. Your father is currently finishing off a campaign, else he would be joining at this moment. As it stands, he wanted you to return to Kul Tiras, but that would be most unwise. There is no one there who could help you as well as Dalaran. The problem is, however, that your healer has not been able to find anything wrong with your mind."

"But there is something wrong," I whined. Having read all of the wondrous things I used to be able to do, I felt rather pathetic at the moment.

"Quite," Antonidas nodded. He turned away from me and began pacing around his office. "This would not be a problem if we could heal it, but at the moment, we cannot. All you can do is attempt to relearn all that you lost and try to remember on your own. But you will need to complete this detailed report for your sake first. If news were to reach the common ears of this incident, your credibility as a wizard will be permanently tarnished, especially if you cannot recover your lost knowledge. To that end, I have been working on an improved version of the 'Arcane Intellect' spell."

I sat up straighter at the sound of that.

"You must understand, I do not like those who artificially boost their intellect as a means to cheat their way into the 'high society' of Dalaran, Jaina. However, I do not compliment you when I say this but you have already proven yourself to be more than enough to match wits with your peers." He paused and turned back to me and added, "Finish the investigation. It will be proof enough that you are still a capable wizard without any aide. When you have finished, I shall have finished this spell. But I shall warn you: I will not suffer you passing this exact spell on to anyone, understood?"

"Yes," I said softly with a nod. "Oh, um…!"

"What is it now?" Antonidas asked, irritated.

"I… forgot how to cast teleport," I mumbled shyly.

Antonidas sighed and looked downwards. He slowly slid his head into his palm until his forehead rested firmly against the center of his hand. After a moment of silence, which left me fidgeting and incredibly nervous, my mentor looked up at me tiredly, "Go and study the 'Teleport: Dalaran' spell. Tomorrow morning, I will take you back to Durnholde so that you may continue your investigations."

… It was the third day of my investigations now. The 'Scroll of Town Portal's had cost me a total of 3 gold and I have a weak grasp of the general 'teleport' spells, though I didn't think I would be able to teleport anywhere that I had not been to, and resided at for a while, for a while. I also had some excess papers and a book on dragon studies for recording data about the bronze dragon. The book was written during the Second War, when dragons were an enemy of the Alliance, so it was mainly about how to best put a dragon down forever.

* * *

I took your advice and went into the Orc Internment Camps. The majority of the camps were crowded in the very lowest level of the keep, with these flimsy wooden hovels lined together one-by-one. The rooms within each of these hovels were tiny, because it seems like for every square meter, there were at least three to five orcs squeezed in.

I remembered one of the papers that my mentor wrote that I had read some days ago, about the 'lethargy of the orcs' when I was here. It was heartrending to see so many of their faces slack and lifeless, as if they had lost their souls and they were now merely drones. Many were sitting where they were even as I approached, drooling and cramped into sitting in what looked like a mixture of mud and their own feces. I understood that they were once the enemy which sought to scour life from Lordaeron, but to have such conditions… As one of you said once, the money needed for keeping these orcs imprisoned was crippling the economy and hurting the lower class of the Kingdom. So why was it that with so much money, these orcs were suffering from such horrible conditions?

But I had drifted off… Some of these orcs seemed to have fire in their eyes, and seeing as these were the ones that dwelled in the areas which were affected by the mysterious fires that took hold of Durnholde, I thought there was a connection here. I also noted to my chagrin that none of the burnt hovels had been repaired yet, so the orcs who had the most spirit were also the ones who suffered from the elements the most.

One of the officers on the watch approached me as I inspected the orc internment camp. He had a concerned look about his expression which did not match his grizzled and scarred physique. There were several other soldiers watching him, but they had not approached me through the whole day of my investigation. He said in a neutral tone with a quick salute, "Ma'am, I am Sergeant Hartsman, is there anything I can help you with?"

"Yes, actually, was the cause of this recent fire ever found?" I asked.

The Sergeant shook his head, "No ma'am, though we suspect it be some kind of dwarven explosive powder, there were no actual evidence found, only traces of how it started."

"That is strange…" I muttered to myself, "I don't sense any… ah!" I found the other lesser anomaly. It was towards one side of the area that had been burnt, leading up to the stairs out of the internment camp area. There were signs of magical battle, though it was overwhelmingly one-sided. Still, it was hidden enough that the common soldiers of the keep would not be able to identify it for what it was. I nodded, realizing that the fire must have been used as a form of distraction while the bandits left the keep. "But why were they here in the first place…?"

"Ma'am?"

"Oh, I'm sorry," I tucked a stray lock of hair behind my ear, "I was just thinking to myself. Though, there is something you could help me with in my investigation."

"Of course, ma'am," He said, "thought it is probably best if you do not stay in this area longer than necessary. The orcs have become more spirited as of late ever since one of them escaped."

I could see it now. These bandits were here to steal, kidnap, or free the one orc who escaped. But why? Was a single orc that important? "Where is the Lieutenant General, Sergeant?"

"The Lieutenant General is in his office, ma'am," He replied dutifully, before adding in a quieter tone, "He asked not to be disturbed, ma'am."

I thought of Tari for a moment. Though I did not know her well enough, she had been taking good care of me for the past few days, and now she was also helping me feed and care for that Bronze Dragon Whelp too. I had asked her not to tell anyone about the pest, and she did exactly as I ask, so I found myself a little fond of her. I didn't like to think of her being hurt…

…I was weak. I didn't like confrontations. I had thought about what you said, to help Tari. I… I was and still am afraid to go and confront the Lieutenant General about this. What if… what if I only made it worse? I thought of excuses, only to realize what I was doing. You were right though; I needed to stop this, somehow. It wasn't right. I tried to steel my heart, but I couldn't help but stutter, "T-thank you, S-Sergeant, but… could you lead me to his office?" I said in the most commanding tone I could bring out of me.

"I… it would be ill-advised, ma'am," the Sergeant commented slowly before nodding. "But if you wish. The Sergeant likes to enjoy his privacy at this time of day."

"Thank you," I said again, my voice felt stronger now. "But you don't need to accompany me in. I just need to know where it is." I could tell that if the Sergeant were to be there, then the Lieutenant General would be very unhappy with him later.

I barged into the Lieutenant General's office, unimpeded by his officers and his soldiers for some reason. They seemed to be keeping away from the office. That suited me fine. With a flick of my finger, the large wooden doors that barred my way flew wide open with even the hinges nearly breaking off.

I was greeted with the sight of Tari on the floor, her cheek red and her lips bleeding. Her blouse was ripped and she was holding it up herself to keep her decency. Standing above her like a menacing beast was the Lieutenant General. I caught a whiff of the smell of alcohol rolling off of him even at the door. He was sweating and panting loudly. He turned to me, a drunken haze of rage in his eyes. His hair was unkempt and his jacket was lying on the other side of the room.

…I felt my own breaths grow shallow and my vision grow red…

* * *

"What's this? Antonidas' little pet sorceress wants to fight with me?" He leered at me in a manner that caused my skin to crawl. "How did you get in here? Where are my… oh, sod it, come 'ere, ya skank! C'mon!"

I tried to hide my revulsion at his hideous smell. The alcoholic scent from the Lieutenant General was strong enough to cause tears to well up in my eyes. "Ugh, s-stay away, you-you… you…"

"Wassat?" His face had already been red, but now it was redder. "Ya asking for a belting?" He staggered over to me like a lumbering giant, only that with each step he took, he also spent several moments to right himself.

Tari crawled over and clung to the Lieutenant General's legs and yelled to me, "Jaina, get out of here!"

"Gerroff me!" Blackmoore slurred before grabbing a bottle of pinot noir that was nearly empty and swung it at Tari.

I couldn't take it anymore; diplomatic problems be damned! "Stop it!" I rushed over to stop him, the formulas and numbers for the 'Water Elemental' summoning spell on the forefront of my mind.

"You!" Blackmoore turned his attention to me and changed the direction of the bottle mid-swing. It smashed into my forehead before my Water Elemental could be summoned.

My head spun as pain lanced against me. He did not swing very hard, but the bottle was not light. It was of poor quality, which had shattered the moment it made contact with my skull-

-Shards of glass flew everywhere-

-Blood dripped from my head, leaving a wet mat of hair. It dripped down making sight in my left eye almost impossible.

I couldn't think or feel, completely disoriented and in a daze. I heard a sound of rushing water, like a tide thundering in a storm… there was a gurgling noise, the sound of a mad beast…

My body fell before I knew what was happening.

My legs crumpled beneath me.

Sound was dull now; I heard several rushed footsteps coming up to the office doors. The blood was not stemming. I reached up and felt the wet mat of bloodied hair just above my left eye. My breaths were quick and short, I was panicking. I was panicking yet in my mind, I felt almost… calm…

Three men, in the uniform of soldiers of Lordaeron and wearing the tabard of the kingdom, ran to the door of the office. Their expressions were a blur, but their words seemed harsh. My towering servant surged back, wrapping around me. Blackmoore crashed into a nearby chair, coughing as if he had been nearly choked to death.

I felt my eyes tearing up again, but the pain seemed dull. I felt so detached. Yet the power of magic was still in my hands. I have to… I have to…

* * *

Thankfully, the Lieutenant General Blackmoore fainted from overexertion or from drinking too much alcohol before I collapsed. I gritted my teeth and sent my elemental to Tari, but Tari moved away.

In a single moment of clarity, I saw her eyes widen in some unreadable expression as my elemental drew closer to her. She seemed to crawl away, so I stopped it and had it instead move me so that I can sit.

One of the three men who had rushed in was the Sergeant. He looked distraught, though I heard some of his words as I fell into the borderline between staying conscious and falling asleep. I was suffering from blood lost, probably…

"—Get a healer in here, you idiot!" He was shouting.

Another, younger man was shouting back, "She's just some no name mage, and she attacked the Lieutenant General! She needs to go into the dungeons for that!"

"Not while I'm your commanding officer, soldier!" Sergeant had grabbed the other man by the collar and raised the man into the air. "Do you want this to be an incident between Dalaran and Lordaeron, on your head, private?!"

"She ain't anybody! Blackmoore'll have our heads for this!" The private suddenly didn't sound so confident.

"I say we kill her and cover it up before this gets out, Serge, but you're higher up than me. If Blackmoore wants someone to hang, he'll be looking at you," A third man said slowly. He added softly, "Don't want that happening to you, not over some finger wiggling foreigner."

My breaths were ragged, and I could barely hear them now. The men started moving out of the office; one of them was hoisting Blackmoore away while another was running to get a healer. The Sergeant was standing at the door, a respectful distance from me. The smell of strong alcohol faded, though I was not sure if that was because of Blackmoore leaving or my senses failing me due to blood loss. My elemental was standing at the door now, retaining its original shape and looking ever vigilant.

'…_Did you want me to move Tari…? Where do I take her?_' I wondered. Tari had been strangely quiet this whole time. She was looking down at the ground. Her face was black and she seemed… gray, tired, and drained. '_Should… should I say something to her? What do I say…?_' I felt like I just wanted to close my eyes and slump down on this comfortable chair I was sitting in.

It wasn't even that comfortable. It was purely of wood and there were no cushions on it, but my body wasn't protesting anymore. My heart was still beating quickly. Maybe it was the 'rush of battle' as I have read in books. Pain did not seem to bother me and nothing seemed too uncomfortable.

The healer was a priest attachment to the company that was currently on duty. He rushed into the office pretty quickly, but he said nothing as he worked. First he removed the glass shards from my skin, and then he healed with a weak prayer to the Light, applied poultices, and bound my wounds. Then he worked on Tari with some kind of weak magic that covered up most of her wounds. He acted as if this was normal…

The Sergeant was watching carefully as the healer worked. He looked down at me expectantly, but he did not say anything.

* * *

"What is your name, Sergeant?" I asked.

After a moment's deliberation, he replied with a salute, "Rifle Sergeant Ronald Lee Hartman, ma'am."

I looked at him with tired eyes and nodded almost lazily. The shock of what happened should have been settling in any moment now… _any moment now_… well, maybe it would happen later then. I replied, "Well, Sergeant, you've averted not an incident between Dalaran and Lordaeron."

He blinked and asked in confusion, "Ma'am?"

"It would have been an incident between Dalaran, Kul Tiras, and Lordaeron, Sergeant. I… thank you for doing your duty," I added.

The Sergeant's eyes widened momentarily before he shrugged, "I'm just doing my job, ma'am."

"That is well and good, Sergeant, but I don't look up to people who abuse those who cannot fight back," I grumbled while looking back at Tari. She heard me say this and looked up, startled and confused. "In exchange for my silence about this assault on me, I will be taking Miss Foxton from the Lieutenant General's employ."

"I do not know if the Lieutenant General will like that, ma'am," Sergeant started to say, but I quickly stopped him and cut him off.

I shook my head drew myself up, "Would he rather tell my father, the Grand Admiral, why he had struck the princess of Kul Tiras over the head with a bottle of alcohol?"

The Sergeant's eyes widened even further and his jaw hung open for about half a second before he shook himself out of his stupor. I almost giggled out loud at his reaction at the knowledge of my identity, "N-no, ma-er, no, my lady."

Was this right?

Was using my father's name, and apparently my people's name, like this, right? I… I didn't know. This… this was why I hated conflicts. I had a headache again.

With a nod, my elemental guardian hoisted Tari up, ignoring her yelp of surprise. I stood up too, but found myself nearly falling to the floor before I caught myself using a nearby piece of furniture as support. The blood loss…

I noted that there was a lot more blood on the floor and on these bandages than I had originally thought.

* * *

"I'm sorry, Jaina," Tari sighed.

I felt agitated, and at that moment, my head hurt too, "B-but Tari! He hurts you! He isn't a good man! Why do you keep yourself here?"

"My parents are here, Jaina," Tari replied warmly. Even though I had been complaining to her for the last quarter of an hour, she still had a smile of what seemed like infinite patience. "This is where I grew up, where I lived my life, and this is where my world is."

"B-but… but you could leave, we could move to a better place, with your parents too?" I asked hopefully.

Tari shook her head sadly, "No, Jaina, but thank you. You are a good person, but I can't leave. My father is Blackmoore's secretary, and if he left now, Blackmoore will do everything in his power to ruin our lives. My mother… well, we are simple people."

I felt the tears that have been building up in the corners of my eyes slowly leaking out. Why won't this warm liquid stop flowing? I sniffled and wiped the corner of my eyes and retorted, "You're smarter than that Tari! You could have a better life. I could… I could protect you!"

"That's sweet of you, Jaina, really," Tari reached over with a handkerchief and wiped my tears away. My heart felt like it was floating and fuzzy and warm from her gentle strokes against my cheeks. Why did she have to be so nice? If she wasn't so nice then I wouldn't have cared so much, right? But then she added, "Blackmoore's hold over my family is too strong for you to break, Jaina. There are… there are things that he could and would do that I know you can't."

"I-I can do anything he could!" I grumbled.

Tari shook her head again, "Not like this, Jaina. Please, stop being so determined to help me. Blackmoore can do very cruel things. It is a good thing that you won't do the same."

I grasped Tari's hands and could only feel more determined to help, "I will solve this! Tari, please, just… just…"

"Jaina," Tari's patience seemed to have finally run out. "Stop being spoiled. You can't save everyone."

"But I can save you!" I cried. I couldn't help it. '_I'm sorry, everyone. I'm not strong enough…_'

Tari reached over and started patting me on the head. I looked up at her in surprise, but she just kept on stroking my hair softly with a gentle smile. "Even if I were to leave, I would never forget my home. You aren't all-powerful, Jaina…"

I kept trying to persuade her to leave with me into the night, but Tari ended up staying at her home. I went to bed earlier than normal, too tired to continue my studies. The baby bronze seemed to notice my mood, and all he did was croon softly as he curled up next to me.

I didn't Tari knew I was awake, but I did see her leave the house that night, and travel to Durnholde Keep in the darkness.

I woke up late into the noon the next day.

Tari was not morn, and the breakfast meal that was laid on the dining table was cold. She must have made the meal for me and… the baby bronze… last night. She hadn't returned yet, but she must be staying with her father. I didn't think she would be going back to that horrible Blackmoore, right?

I should probably give the little bronze a name. It seemed to have relearned its ability to fly and now it was followed me around the house.

I had to say, it was not very comfortable to have a baby dragon land on your shoulder! He was much heavier than he looked!

* * *

…I still didn't know what to call him, but he has started to become rather distracting at times. He was always trying to get my attention or something. And somehow, he even learned how to follow me, so that even with the 'blink' spell, I could still see him flying after me.

I was, of course, thinking about the baby bronze dragon.

He did not say any words yet, so I could not communicate with him even though I tried to talk to him as much as possible. There just was not any information on how to raise a dragon. '_How frustrating… though I wonder if such a book exists? 'How to Train Your Dragon'… teehee… That would be so silly.'_

I began investigating the happenings on the road, as per your advice. It was difficult to find the exact scenes of the ambushes staged by the bandits who attacked the Lordaeron Patrols, but I found them. There were three such attacks that left the sentries in shallow graves. These graves were each dug about ten to twenty meters away from the road and about half of one meter into the earth.

Though I found it rather disgusting that I had to dig these bodies up (they smelled horrible by the way), I found doing an autopsy on the magical causes of death kind of interesting.

Each group was a patrol group of five: one priest of the Light, one political officer, one corporal, and two privates. All of them suffered wounds that were caused by similar instruments as those that caused the damages in Durnholde Keep. The bodies suffered from not just magical damage, but also from some kind of strange energy I could not identify. It was similar to the energy used for creating the instant roots, but the effect was something like an evocation spell.

As a side note, whoever killed these sentries and buried their bodies also looted everything on them. Only the bare minimum of their body armor and their tabard remained. I couldn't even find anything to identify each of the soldiers by, outside of the different kinds of armors they wore.

The road was several hours long for me to travel atop my elemental, so the whole investigation took the entire day. This whole time, the still nameless bronze dragon whelp followed me… I felt almost attached to it by now.

At the end of the day, I handed in a report to Antonidas before returning. I did not mention the little conflict between the Lieutenant General and me, yet, hoping that it would cause me any troubles either. It was a depressing ending to that story; I had truly hoped to help Tari.

When I returned, neither Tari nor her parents had returned to the house yet. Strangely enough, many of the village folk were also missing, though not enough that might cause me alarm. Well, it didn't seem like a big deal though, because they were all attendants at the keep, which means most of the time, they will work and sleep at the keep…

…It was time to sleep! In a few days, this investigation will be done, at least I would have enough evidence of what happened in Durnholde, even if no one would be brought in. The important part of the investigation was to determine if there were any intruders or threats popping up for the Alliance anyway.


	8. Chapter 8

It was a split between 'Tiiduldovah' or 'Nico Bolas', so I chose the simpler name. I wouldn't want the other bronze dragons to make fun of him, just because he had a weird name now, would I? 'Nico Bolas' could even be a nick name. "I think I'll just call you 'Nico'," I scratched little Nico's chin. He seemed to like it when I did that.

"Wark," Nico replied.

"You like that name, don't you?" I asked, imagining his little croons and barks to be actually intelligible words when they clearly were not. Was I becoming delusional?

"Wark, wark," Nico nuzzled my cheek.

"Let's go to Durnholde Keep then," I replied.

I noticed there was some unusual activity around Durnholde Keep, as if the soldiers stationed here were preparing for something. The last few days I was here, I only saw sentries, but now I saw twice that number patrolling the walls. There was some activity outside the walls, but it looked like they were repairing the walls or something similar.

The men were strangely polite to me too, which was strange because they used to just ignore me altogether. They were very helpful, but they all seemed to try to steer me away from the keep's hold, where Blackmoore's office was.

The officers were very helpful; many of them tried their best to answer what questions I had, though that could also be because of the four meter tall water elemental standing right behind me.

Almost all of them did not remember how the fires started, but they do remember that when it did, all of them felt the compulsion to see to it be put out. This was normal though in my opinion, because if the keep had burned down then they would have all suffered. They remembered hearing sounds of battle, though none of them seemed to remember seeing any fighting.

Nico was very polite during my investigation; he stayed silent the whole time on my shoulder. Some of them men even commented on how fine my shoulder ornament was.

I felt there was strange magic at work here, because the men did not seem to care very much about those who went missing that day, even though they expressed that they wanted to. It was almost as if there was some kind of strange, mind altering magic that caused them to start thinking of other things the moment they started to ponder upon things related to the day the keep was attacked by the bandits and the orc Thrall had escaped.

It was late in the afternoon that I noted a couple of scouts returned from some faraway place, and instead of reporting to their immediate officers, they sought out Blackmoore. Not ten minutes later, Blackmoore gathered a group of horsemen (I didn't want to call them knights because they didn't wear any noticeable emblems) and rode out of the keep. How peculiar…

* * *

Follow them? But… alright. Did this count as espionage? I had read novels about this!

…so, I might have been a little loud. I might have stumbled off of my water elemental and I might have drawn all of Lieutenant General Blackmoore and his men's attentions. I might have...

Well, I might have done a lot of things.

Blackmoore's dozen or so mounted scouts have gathered around me in a semi-circle, and Blackmoore himself was not looking very pleased. It was good that he was sober, at least he smelled like he was, but his face was even redder than when he was drunk. He was holding some pieces of paper when I found him. He looked like he was just about to tear the paper apart.

The only reason his men had not already charged at me with their spears was because my water elemental was just as equally discrete and stealthy as I was. That was to say, it was not at all.

"You…" Blackmoore growled at me as he turned away from his findings. I couldn't see what was written on them even as I squinted as hard as I could. Blackmoore stuffed the papers into a pouch before jumping up onto his horse. He glared down at me and said in a slurred tone, "Wha' shall we do with 'er, boys?"

There was a grumble of soft whispers passing through the small group. Perhaps I should say something?

* * *

I quickly stood up and brushed the leaves and dust from my skirt before stuttering out nervously, "W-well, y-you've found a y-young woman out on her own with no witnesses." I fought off the urge to chuckle nervously. Oh, I was so scared just then! I tried to give them a wry look, but I couldn't quite make myself feel nonchalant enough to be confident about this, "S-so… I imagine you could, ah… do a variety of things."

Blackmoore snorted contemptuously, "_Princess_," he spat as if he were saying some kind of foul language, "I am no fool. I know who you associate with." Then he leaned closer and hissed a whisper, "but realize this, _girl_: even your friends and family can only go so far. If I find you sneaking around, there will be consequences. I heard you tried to buy Taretha. What a pity that she did not want to leave." He smiled mockingly down at me. His hideous, yellowing teeth made me want to… I wanted to punch him in the face at that moment.

Of course, I would probably have broken my wrist to do it, but that man was infuriating!

"Come, boys, we have work to do," Blackmoore yelled to his men before leading his horse away in a gallop. They rode away quickly, back towards Durnholde Keep. I stood there, one part confused and one part shocked. What were they planning?

I noted that Blackmoore had dropped a page in his haste to leave.

In my curiosity, I picked it up and read it. It was a letter, one written on cheap paper and very wrinkled. There were watery marks on the page that blurred much of the ink, but I could still read it.

_Dear Thrall,_

_How are you? It has been several weeks since my last letter, Master B. has been very strict with me lately. He told me the most interesting thing. My mother Clannia had fed you and nursed you when you were young. I didn't know this, but Master B. said that people won't look kindly on her for doing so from her own breast. I hope not! Mother saved your life by doing that, so I think it's a good thing. I have a lot of work to do in the keep now, Master B. has been kind. I miss you and I hope you are well. I hope you are alright. I'll try to bring you some food this time. I hope you get better!_

_Love Taretha_

_P.S. Did you like the apples last time? I will try to sneak some mutton out of the kitchens today. Do you like the fruits better or the meat?_

* * *

I rushed back to Durnholde Keep. Half the time I was 'blinking' and the other I was making my water elemental spin so quickly, we were flying through the air. I must have arrived at least half of one hour before Blackmoore. Of course, the whole ride took him about a little over half of one hour, so I supposed we arrived almost instantly.

I had set off to look for Tari but no matter where I looked, I couldn't find her. Even after Blackmoore returned, I still couldn't find her! I needed to find her! He… I didn't want to believe that he would _kill _her, but I knew he would hurt her. He would hurt her badly for keeping something like this away from him. It might even be enough proof, at least in that demented mind, for him to believe that she was the cause of this Thrall's escape!

…It was nearly dark by the time one of the soldiers came over to me and informed me that I was disrupting their duties. They looked at me pitifully, but they were once again really unhelpful. I wouldn't put it passed Blackmoore to have ordered them to get in my way, but…

I was on the verge of giving up. Blackmoore was alone in his office, drinking himself into a stupor, but no I couldn't go anywhere in Durnholde Keep without several soldiers tailing me and watching everything I did. Frankly, I was annoyed. I wanted to yell at them and ask what they wanted, but I held myself back.

They were just obeying the orders of their commanders. They were doing their duties, right?

I was about to leave the keep when I noticed a silhouette of a woman sneaking through the shadows. I tried to be quieter and tried to sneak behind her without my water elemental following me. It had to be Tari. It couldn't be anyone else. But…

…why was Tari sneaking into Blackmoore's quarters? Unless… I felt a blush grow from my chest to my neck just as revulsion grew in my mind. Oh, she wouldn't do that, with him would she? No, it had to be something else. I could hear Blackmoore snoring in his quarters even from the other side of the hallway, so it couldn't have been _that_. So why was she sneaking down there…?

* * *

I made a light, but when I arrived at Blackmoore's door and peeked inside, Tari was nowhere to be found. At least she wasn't here to do _that_, but… where did she go? I felt rather dirty just spying on Blackmoore's door. What if he woke up and I got caught?

He was snoring softly now. This was strange, because it seemed like he was drunk earlier, only I can't seem to even smell any alcohol in his room. At least, he looks like he hasn't really drunk yet. I was afraid to go inside. I was too loud, if I woke him... what would happen?

* * *

I walked out of Durnholde that night as normally and calmly as I could. I felt that from outward appearances, I might have just been one of the people who belonged there, except I wore magically enchanted armor with silks of royal purple and plates of glimmering gold. It was a chilly night and I couldn't help but shiver as the winds passed me.

I had wrapped my cloak around me, but it did nothing to calm my heart. Nico jumped off of my shoulder and sat on my lap as I rode my water elemental to Tarren's Mill.

Maybe I did look calm, but inside, I was a mess. My doubts kept coming back to me, though a large, logical part of me tried to keep that emotional side suppressed, it was difficult not to listen to my own fears. What if it had been a trap? At every flickering shadow and at every dancing light, I felt my heart seize in fear. Even though the analytical part of me told me it was nothing, I was just too paranoid from my lack of confidence. Still, I wondered and I feared…

It wasn't a very comfortable ride, despite Nico falling asleep on my lap and the best efforts of my elemental. The beating of my heart drummed against my ears. I didn't like this feeling, and I couldn't help but wonder if it was because I distasted conflict or if I distasted loss. In the end, was everything down to power? I have read of the phrase '_might makes right_', and I thought it applied very well here. This thought didn't sit well with me, but there was little I could do.

I arrived at the Foxton's home that evening, and it was Tari's mother ("Call me Ma, Jaina," she talked to me for the first time after I revealed my identity as the princess of Kul Tiras) who served me dinner. Setting up a teleport point in Tarren's Mill was not difficult. I had finished before bed that night, though with so much on my mind, I was unsure if I could even memorize it.

Before I went to sleep, Tari returned home, looking worse for wear. She looked like she hadn't slept in the past two days. We exchanged a greeting, but she wouldn't look at my eyes.

As you suggested, I thought to tell her that Blackmoore knew, but she seemed to not listen, despite what I had to say. After trying minutes to get her attention, I have had enough and practically threw her letter at her, "Explain this!"

Tari's eyes briefly scanned the letter before she folded it up and tucked it away. She looked nervous, suddenly, "W-where did you find this, Jaina?"

"Blackmoore had it," I felt triumphant for getting her attention, but almost immediately felt bad for sounding like a brat and gloating. My shoulders slumped as I added, "He found it today."

"Oh." Tari looked down. Her hands clutched her skirt so hard, her knuckles were white and the skirt was starting to get very wrinkled.

She didn't look up after a moment, so I nodded, "Yeah…" I was unsure of what to add.

"Please… please keep quiet about this, Jaina," Tari looked up at me pleadingly.

I nodded, "O-of course."

"I… thank you, Jaina," Tari nodded and smiled at me sadly, "I will be careful. Please, go rest now. You look like you haven't slept for days."

"I should say that of you," I grumbled before I realized what I was saying, "Um, oops."

Tari laughed heartily, "I probably look pretty bad right now, don't I?"

"N-no," I waved my hands in protest, "You look fine."

"Alright then, good night Jaina," She left.

Only after she went to sleep and I was lying in bed with Nico did I realize I had so much to ask her. What was it like to be the friend of an orc? Did he have different habits than humans? What kind of problems did he have when he tried to learn our language? If not for his skin and features, would he be like any other human? If she could befriend him, could… could we all live together in peace, rather than to have to kill and imprison each other? What was the orc's aptitude for magic?

I fell asleep with too many questions and no answers in my mind.

Sometime during the night, I thought I heard whispers outside my door. I thought my door had opened silently and my water elemental had rippled in some kind of contained rage. But nothing happened.

A harsh voice whispered a curse in rage. Something glinting was hidden away.

Then the door closed and my water elemental went back into its dormant state, ever looking over me.

In the next morning, I woke up after the Foxtons had all left their house. I ate with Nico and stretched, getting ready for a full day of work. Or maybe I should do something else?

* * *

The center of Tarren's Mill was a mess. There were miniature fractures and anomalies in every direction. I supposed that this was where the final fight between the bandit interlopers and whoever was here to protect the people had been fought. I found several scales on the ground that intrigued me. They were in the same shape as those of Nico's but of a completely different coloration.

They were utterly black, with a shadow that literally oozed out of the scales like pus. It was a disgusting feeling that took several minor protection wards to hold. I had taken a sturdy grain sack and laid the protections on the bag and then used some basic levitation spells to move them. The scales themselves did not seem toxic to my senses, but without further testing, I thought to best take all the precautions I could. The protections I did take took most of the day and what natural reagents I could buy from the locals (I bought all they had and used it all on this bag, though in total it did not cost me more than 2 pieces of gold).

There was a strange magic emanating from the scales that was kind of similar to Nico. It was something passive and hard to notice, but under the forensic spells that were detailed in the reports, I could… feel it. There was something inherently _wrong_ with the black scales, like if something had distorted the very nature of the being that shed these scales…

I shuddered to think what could change something so utterly…

The shadows the scales naturally gave off seemed to cause mundane humans to completely ignore them. I didn't know if it was somehow causing their minds to ignore it, or if the shadows somehow caused the people to simply be unable to see it, but it was an interesting effect. It was as if it goes back just enough in a person's mind to make them think of something—anything—around the scales, just as long as they did not think of or remember the scales. What a fearsome passive ability…

However, it was just a passive ability. Once aware of them, the scales showed up in my sight like anything else spewing blackness in the middle of a field. That was to say, I saw them very clearly. Nico seemed to look at the scales as if they were feces or something similar. He was even growling at the bag I used to hold them.

How adorable.

All in all, I had found the evidence of battle and the rift itself. Time had nearly been sundered here. In fact, it looked as if time _had _been sundered, and something repaired it. That something seemed to be very similar to Nico… I stared at the little critter suspiciously, but he just crooned at me for the next five minutes. I thought I was going slightly insane from the stress of things. Maybe I was. I hoped not. It was possible that I was currently in shock though, but I didn't know what I was in shock of. Should I even have been in shock in the first place?

I digressed. It looked like time had been sundered twice. Apparently some specific event had occurred twice with each time being 'mended' somehow (the same events occurring twice at the same time and the same place caused by the same beings in the same ways should be only one event, but why was there two? How does this even make any sense?). The third time this happened, whatever causing the anomaly was… destroyed? Then… the other anomalies disappeared here too, into another rift. Whatever their objective here was either complete or impossible for them, even with their access to this power to basically… reset… time. Any being or group of beings able to do this… I wondered why I had not yet heard of them. With this, they could… I don't know…

They could probably take over the world or something? Though time would probably be so messed up that… ah… I was starting to see what you were all talking about. I understood. Thanks!

It was the end of the day by the time I had finished my investigation of Tarren's Mill.

* * *

I arrived home in Dalaran sometime before dusk that day. It was good to be home! I had let out a whoop before becoming flustered and looking around to see if anyone saw me. But of course, I was in my laboratory, so no one would have seen me in the first place… how embarrassing!

I found a letter in my mail box from Professor Nozzlespring. It was a short note that read:

_To the Apprentice of Archmage Antonidas, Lady Jaina Proudmoore,_

_It is I, the professor from the Gnomeregan Community College, Nozzlespring! I have completed a prototype of the 'Bottomless Bag' as you call it. But to make one, the reagents are too expensive to make more. Please visit me sometime so that you can pick yours up! The bag doesn't seem to be actually endless however, because after the five hundredth liter of water, the coin pouch we created started overflowing! So this design only expands the space within by about one thousand times. I know you are disappointed, but perhaps I thought I could recoup the loss and give you some profits in return._

_I want to confer with you later if you can make a modification to the design to use cheaper reagents so that these expanded bags can be sold to everyone! I know you don't have much time, but I do because I am just a lecturer. As an enterprising individual, I thought I could make a company that sold the lesser quality bags. Of course, I will take care of all the costs and management, but I thought you would like to become my partner in this venture? I am not interested in the profits, but I thought it would be a way for you to fund further research. After all, reagents are costly!_

_Sincerely,_

_Nozzlespring the Very Twitchy_

I reported to my mentor later on during the evening. He invited me to dine with him. There he said that my reports were satisfactory enough and that he will have the Kirin Tor send a different mage named Shay to go and monitor the situation while under the cover of being an individual who wanted to open an inn in Tarren's Mill.

Before I left for the night, Antonidas handed me a thin notebook. He told me that I was to study this book and the spell within when I wanted to learn his intellect boosting and memory enhancing spell. Supposedly the spell had the duration for half of one day, which seemed pretty convenient. He warned me not to overuse this spell because he did not seem to like those who did not use their natural intellect for things for some reason.

I came home to see Nico rolling around in a pile of my sheets on the floor. He looked up at me innocently with those large, round and golden eyes and I realized I couldn't punish him for such an act. I still attempted to scold him though.

* * *

Master Antonidas (I have finally gotten around to the habit of referring to him as such after seeing his spell) gave me such a high level spell that I had thought… well, I didn't think it was possible. It wasn't the concept behind the spell that was difficult, that was easy, though improbable due to no other mage being intelligent enough to make it, but the formulas that Master Antonidas used. Actually, I thought he must have created these formulas in just the previous week.

There were two spells that he required me to learn before being able to work on his spell: Arcane Intellect and the Brilliance Aura.

Arcane Intellect is a spell that artificially creates a short term ward on the mind which artificially speeds up a mage's mental capacity for calculations for a short period of time (something like a few minutes to half of one hour). Extended use of this speed was known to cause a mind to go slightly insane and rather reliant on the spell. Since many mages knew how to dispel such simple wards by disrupting it with some arcane energy, it was rather something that only researchers used for short periods of times. I could see why Master Antonidas thought I should not rely on this spell, because those who did turned out to be rather… lazy.

The Brilliance Aura spell was not so much a spell as much as a physical manifestation of a magic user's own intellect. It required some mental discipline and a deep understanding of the arcane. Generally, any mage who had been able to manifest this aura was considered on par with an Archmage due the requirement of understanding not just the arcane but also the universe in such an intimate way that few are capable of doing. There were less than fifteen people alive known to be able to manifest the Brilliance Aura. This aura was emitted from the body in a dim, blue glow; which was actually the physical evidence of condensing magical energy which was passively being drawn to an Archmage's body. Those who stood next to the Archmage would note that they can generate more power in a faster pace due to this aura. It was, in essence, an Archmage's passive ability to draw mana to their bodies through sheer intellect.

The Arcane Intellect spell took me a single day to memorize and learn, but the Brilliance Aura was harder. I found that I did not have the mental discipline to practically "kill" my emotions enough to become a being of cold logic. Alright, that was an exaggeration, but my emotions were hindering my progress with the Brilliance Aura spell too much for me to progress further on to learn Master Antonidas' Arcane Mind spell. The spell was supposed to be both a way of condensing knowledge input and processing. If I were to have it on, I would learn quickly, and while I slept I would absorb the knowledge with some kind of arcane aide. There were some parts of it that I did not quite understand, but I assume that is because I did not figure out how to exhibit the Brilliance Aura yet.

While I did find my own personal notes on the use of the Polymorph spell and the Counterspell spells with even some additional notes from Antonidas, I had not found any sources on this 'Ice Barrier' spell. I did believe that there was an experimental spell currently being tested by a mage named Alturus that seemed to have similar connotations, called 'Ice Block'. He was currently using it as a thesis to enter the ranks of the Archmages.

With the use of the Arcane Intellect spell at crucial periods, I was able to understand the basics of the Polymorph spell and the Counterspell spells in a matter of four days total.

Polymorph was a rather elegant spell which distorted the physical form of an object into something else, though there were some limitations. Usually it was easier to change one living being into a different one. Changing a human to, say, a rock was difficult. The closer size they were, the easier it was to change things. Of course, if there were a fifty meter tall giant and I had cast Polymorph on it, then it would probably have turned into a twenty meter tall sheep at best. The spell only lasts a short period of time before the innate energy of things managed to cut the flow of energy and transform the target back. In most cases, I found that my current spell lasted for around 45 seconds. Hitting the transformed object did not change it back. That would be a rather ludicrous weakness to such a spell now, wouldn't it?

There were many forms of the Counterspell spells. They all stemmed from a single kind of Counterspell spell, which then was changed either by the spell it was made to counter, or by the mage who cast the Counterspell. For example, to counter the forces of a ritual that has already gathered energy, I would need to modify the variables so that more energy was used to counter said ritual. The spell was a form of disruption through the use of magical energy. Technically, anyone could counter any spell, but some spells were cast too quickly to counter while being cast. A spell that has already been cast is several magnitudes harder to counter than a spell that was still being prepared. Thus, the most important aspect of the Counterspell was precision. I found that after the first week was over, I had a good grasp of this spell that I could cast it instantly and defeat any spell still in preparation. However, I did not have much confidence over disrupting for example a fireball mid-flight.

By the second week, I found that I had made some progress on manifesting the Brilliance Aura, but I had not gotten far enough on it to realize the ability. I couldn't really call it a spell, because it was more like a feat of intellect or will that was on par with something like "coming back to life from death for a few moments longer through sheer force of will". I just couldn't control my own emotional state well enough! Argh! I was getting so frustrated with this that I started throwing things around.

It was around this time that Nico flew up to my face and cried in a squeaky, high-pitched voice of an innocent boy, "Mahmah! Whaht ahre yew doin', Mahmah? Mahmah, Stahp!

I was so shocked that I just kind of crumbled right there and stared at him. What do I do? I was too young to be a mother! I didn't even have most of my memories! And… and…

…I couldn't help it. I started crying.

Nico was nice enough to try to hug me, though that only caused me to cry harder.

I woke up next morning after a night of crying. My eyes were still red. I didn't realize how I thought of Nico as a pet or something like my water elemental servant than a real person. It was frightening. It was shocking. I didn't think I was out of the shock yet, but I tried to keep everything normal. I still didn't make any more progress on the Brilliance Aura, however.

I thought that I had calmed down enough to interact with Nico, but he only spoke simple things like a two or three year old child, by my guessing. He seemed satisfied just watching me work while occasionally chatting with me or playing with me. I thought I would tolerate this for a while longer, but every time I looked at the eyes of the little bronze dragon, I felt my heart hurt. Why…?

I did not really know what a longer silence duration was for the Counterspell. However in the spirit of improving the spell, I found that if I added some more offensive features to the Counterspell spell, then it would hurt the caster of the countered spell more. I guessed that what you mean by silence was to "stop the caster from using that spell again", but I didn't know how to do that. Instead, I thought that, if I took the energy dissipated from the spell that was cast, and have it explode in the caster's face, that would be… effective? I also realized that if I were to become more precise then countering spells of greater power would slowly gain a form of diminishing returns. That was to say, if I were proficient enough, it wouldn't matter how powerful a spell was, I should still be able to counter it with minimal effort. However, that would require so much precision that the effort necessary on this front would be staggering…

In the end, I realized that I couldn't quite make a target's own spell explode in their faces with the same results as they intended. That too took too much calculation for it to be a feasible option. However, if I had the Counterspell to take the energy behind the spell and make it into something offensive… I realized I discovered something interesting then. It would basically burn the target's magical energy away, hurting them at the same time.

I would admit now that I had not exactly been… ah… ethically sound in my practices when I first discovered how to use a person's magical energy to "burn" their own magical energy away. I might have been a little emotionally unsound too, but… well, the results spoke for themselves! Sure, there were several apprentice mages in the healing ward now, but they were just suffering from minor burns anyway! No one knew I was me!

Ahem. What happened that day, sometime near the end of the second week, was that I had thought to test this discovery. It so happened to be the day after I broken down from Nico's words. I saw some apprentices practicing basic candle light spells outside my window and I thought to see if my theory was correct (of course it was, but I wanted to try it anyway!). When an apprentice summoned the energy for a ball of candle light, I first countered it. This caused the energy to go back, and burn both his hand and drain about half of that amount of energy he used from his being. It looked rather nasty when he keeled over and started crying, but I was on to my next target. There was a girl who was also practicing the spell, but I thought to let her finish the spell first. When she did and the spell was hovering above her palms, I countered it. The orange flames exploded in a burst of blue energy, which again caused basically the identical reaction as the previous test subject. Then I did it several times more until I…

Well, I sort of got bored.

I realized after calming myself down that what I did was wrong. It was very, very wrong. But… but "mana burning", as I had referred to it, seemed so… I… enticing, perhaps? This thought only led me to become more fearful of what was happening to me.

I spent the rest of the week meditating and trying to make the Brilliance Aura work, if nothing but to gain some sense of mental discipline so that I could stop myself from doing that again.

Pondering on the other happenings of the week, I thought about the Polymorph spell. It doesn't actually heal anyone when cast and it doesn't break from being hit. Where did you get these silly notions? I tried to make it a longer duration, but the energy drain for that was too great due to, once again, the principle of diminishing returns. It was just easier and more efficient to cast the spell again after the one minute mark. Otherwise, I should find some kind of permanent method of the Polymorph spell. Actually, I realized what you meant by healing the target. If I had a base image of what I wanted the spell to Polymorph a target into, they would always be turned into that. So for the duration of the spell, I suppose it was possible for the target to be healed by Polymorph. However, the moment they changed back, they would retain all wounds and effects, I believe. Of course, if they were burning before a Polymorph, they would still be burning after the spell took effect.

By the end of the second week, I realized that part of the reason why I had been so frustrated had been because my own emotions were affected by… well, this is embarrassing. See, it was that time of the month when I… Well, you all got the point! But that was no excuse for what I did...

Sigh... I don't know what to do.

After the week had passed, I made some improvements on achieving the Brilliance Aura, but I was still missing something. It felt like I had reached a plateau of which I could go no further. I reasoned that perhaps this was because I did not have enough knowledge, but how do I achieve the ability to regain all my knowledge if the requirement was to have all my knowledge? There had to be a trick here…

I couldn't figure out how to make a "Mass" Polymorph. According to my own diaries, it was a specialty of Master Antonidas' to be able to cast spells that usually affected only one person on a huge crowd. One of his feats that he showed me was his ability to temporarily call up over one hundred elite water elementals in a single spell. Another time, he told me he could teleport an entire army from Lordaeron to Stormwind, in a single moment.

Quite frankly, I didn't seem to be able to do it. These kinds of tricks were not taught, but passed down from one mage to another. Still, I thought that I should be able to figure it out, right? Into the third week, I found some obscure notes that apparently I had kept from Antonidas' old lectures on teleporting multiple people. Sure, it wasn't Mass Polymorph, but being able to cast Mass Teleport was no small feat, I assure you. I felt reasonably sure that I could teleport around 200 people from one place to another or to me by the end of the third week.

I also learned the 'Arcane Explosion' and the 'Arcane Missiles' spells during that time. They were really simple. Arcane Explosion was a spell that consumed very little energy, but it was not exactly efficient by any means. The only situation I thought of that it could be efficiently used in was oh, for example, if I had been covered in tar and I wanted to remove the tar. This spell would have cleaned me right up. The Arcane Missiles spell, as it turned out, was very similar to your 'Starlight Breaker' in theory. It called for me to gather energy from my surroundings and compress them into explosive missiles. Then I would channel the spell which would propel these missiles towards a target. Again, compared to other evocation spells like Frost Bolt, I found this to be rather inefficient, but it would do its job if I needed it.

I tried to create a simulacrum of air as you suggested, but it did not go as planned. There was very little research in binding air elementals to begin with, but I tried to use the same theories of the water elemental on the air elemental. This did not go so well. Throughout the fourth week, all that I was able to do was to create the air elemental, but no matter what size it had or how much freedom I gave it, it would always just escape somehow. When it didn't escape, it would explode itself.

This did not help my study in Arcane Brilliance at all.

I talked to Nozzlespring during the first week. He gave me my 'Bottomless Bag', and we started working on a model that could be mass produced. By the second week, we worked something out, that could hold about fifty times its size and was very economical to create. It was nothing compared to something that could hold over one thousand times its size, but it was a new field. Nozzlespring decided to give me 50 percent of the ownership of this company that he registered in Gnomeregan. He seemed insistent on this so I couldn't really stop him anyway.

By the fourth week, I realized he didn't tell me that he was going to call the economical design the 'Proudmoore Pouch'. I received my share of the profits too, which had been half of the dividends which made up of about twice the size of the retained earnings of that month. It was over 80 gnome gold pieces and about 1000 gnome silvers. Apparently, the company was simply called "Nozzlespring's" and it had only opened its first shop in Gnomeregan at the beginning of that month. I also found out that these bags, which were made at the economic price of around 30 gnome silvers a piece, were being sold for something around 6 gnome gold pieces a piece. (Gnome currency was currently in fluctuation because Lordaeron was in a depression, which did not help because Lordaeron was also Gnomeregan's largest trading partner.)

By the end of the month, I found myself confused with the Brilliance Aura that I found myself asking Master Antonidas what I was doing wrong. He only chuckled infuriatingly at me and told me to "keep trying".

While Kael'thas was nowhere to be found, I did find out that Finnall had been pulled out of Dalaran because of recent orc sightings. Apparently she was to be stationed at Dalaran's southern border for the next two months.

While still stuck on the Brilliance Aura, I took to learning how to communicate with my water elemental. It consisted of trying to understand gurgles and burps. At least, that was what it sounded like to me.

By loosening my hold on my water elemental even more, I found that it spoke a dialect of a language called 'Kalimag', and it was a male. It also didn't have a name outside of 'Jaina's Water Elemental'. It spoke of simple things, like how it liked to listen to me talk and it liked shade more than light. It spoke of very, very simple things, as if it were also just a child. I wondered if this was because I still had a hold over it, but I couldn't be sure.

Nico learned how to speak with him, my elemental, faster than me! I didn't know whether to be unhappy or to be glad that he was helping me learn the language. In the end, we all sat down together, had tea, and chatted about how we liked to stay at home rather than to go outside.

…I was still stuck on the Brilliance Aura at the end of the month.


	9. Chapter 9

It couldn't be that easy, could it? To understand it, all I had to do was to remove all anything that enhanced my intellect?

…the first time I had experienced the Brilliance Aura, it had been such a rush. I felt like I was flying through the skies for a few moments before I realized what I was doing. I quickly jumped off of my bed and tucked my hair behind my ear embarrassingly.

Thankfully, neither Nico nor my currently still unnamed Water Elemental thought I was being strange. I didn't know if that was a compliment or not however.

I didn't think I could even turn the aura off! It was overwhelming, the knowledge that I had learned in last few weeks constantly filtering through my mind, yet not coming close to overwhelming me. I opened my eyes and noted to my awe, that my body had a dim, blue glow slowly emitting from me like ripples in a pond. It was… it was like being used to drinking from a straw and then suddenly being able to drink directly from the cup? I made a rough estimate then that my capacity for channeling arcane energies had increased by nearly one third due to the aura. It was also very pretty to wave my hands around and see the miniscule motes of magical energy appear and disappear.

Then Nico had the bright idea of trying to lick the motes, which led to my face being covered in dragon slobber.

For the rest of the week, I alternated between teaching Nico simple words and checking up on information about Nozzlespring's company.

Apparently Nico was a fast learner, because by mid-week, he was speaking to me as sophisticatedly as I spoke to him. Then he started wanting to learn magic, though the most he seemed to be able to do was make himself shine brighter (thankfully). I wouldn't know what to do if he started wrecking the home! I think I should probably ask Master Antonidas about what to feed Nico, because I have been giving him human foods for the duration of our stay in Dalaran. He seems to have developed a taste for grape juice, cucumbers, and mutton. And he usually mixed the three in an unholy concoction with a heavy layer of vinegar and salt.

I tried to give him to eat something normal like cakes, cookies, or brownies, but he didn't seem to like sweet things. It was such a pity.

Nozzlespring's company had turned out to be called 'Nozzlespring's'. Its main product was the 'Proudmoore Pouch' which was seeing a rise in sells when, by the end of the week, Professor Nozzlespring had opened up a shop in the major trading city of Ironforge. Apparently there was an explorer's guild that had taken to this and asked Nozzle spring to make a bigger version of this, which was fitted with two straps and outfitted with reinforced leather. Nozzlespring had called it the 'Professor's Pack' and it was doing better on the market than the 'Proudmoore' because it was simply bigger. Since both used the formula which resulted in them being able to hold about 50 times their original size, the bigger one was the obvious choice for beginning travelers. The backpack was large enough to hold around 10 liters, which was a much better deal compared to the smaller 0.5 liter pouch.

In the company report, which Nozzlespring sent me at the end of the last month and only arrived in the middle of this week, he had decided to retain a majority of the profits for the next few weeks to reinvest into the company. Currently, he was making all of the bags himself and though he was doing a good job, he thought this was just too much work for one person. Instead, he would be hiring two apprentice mages to help with his work. He already had his sights on one, a gnome who was the third son of a leatherworking shop in Gnomeregan. Nozzlespring also added in very, very fine print that he wanted to make a faster moving flying machine. There were even some smaller words that I couldn't really read because they seemed like little black ink dots more than actual letters. All I could make out was 'fast as sound'. Should I be feeling dread?

At the end of the week, Nico learned his first spell, which I did not feel like was a spell at all. He learned how to spew a kind of golden-sand-fire-breathe-attack-thing that eroded away the leg of one of my work benches. The leg had literally turned old before turning into dust. I was a little frightened.

I thought about teaching him magic, but if I did, then I would probably have less than half of the time that had been available to me already. On the other hand, if I didn't then he could accidentally kill something or someone, right? I thought about it for a while, while teaching Nico and my still unnamed Water Elemental how to read. '_Oh, that's right!'_ I taught my water elemental how to cook. He could bake bread and boil foods inside his body. _'That's right! He's like a walking boiler!'_ Except if I he made the water too hot then he would start losing his structure and then I would need to wait a couple of minutes for him to rebuild his body with the water available around him.

Nico is able to read my beginning apprentice-level magic books. They contain simple things, but I wonder how long it will take for him to start wanting to learn more?

* * *

'Dalaran Intellect' happened to be a spell that was several magnitudes more powerful than its predecessor, the 'Arcane Intellect' spell. If the 'Arcane Intellect' was a safe enhancement that anyone could withstand, which only barely doubled the all around potential of the brain, then the 'Dalaran Intellect' would be the spell that tripled the power of the 'Arcane Intellect's aide. A normal mind could not possibly handle such strains, so it drained more arcane energies in order to add extra crutches to the mind so that it could bear the increased strain of the spell. Thus, it also lasted longer: the minimum time I could keep it on was one hour.

However, with the aid of the 'Dalaran Intellect' spell, I was able to comprehend and memorize spells at an increased pace. It also seemed to me that my 'Brilliance Aura' did not shut off while these enhancements were on, so I wondered how Antonidas was able to even shut his off, if only temporarily.

I was able to learn the 'Slow Fall' spell in a day. I wondered why anyone would invent this spell, but then I realized it was probably because someone wanted to fly. The spell had very little drain on my reserves because it was not a spell that altered gravity or something silly like that. All it did was increase the wind resistance—somehow—to allow targets to fall slower. I assumed if someone were to make large enough wings, then mages could potentially 'fly' with the use of this spell. It only lasted up to 2 minutes however, so it was also possible that someone might forget to recast this spell and fall to their doom.

Master Antonidas' Arcane Mind spell seemed very different from the mind-enhancing spells that I have learned so far. It actually did not enhance my mind all that much, I realized. Instead, it created an arcane, "virtual" copy of my mind while still being completely connected to my mind. After the spell ended, what the copy thought and what the copy learned would then be reabsorbed into my mind. Thankfully the spell only created one copy, so it didn't seem like I would have any strain from the spell. I was still studying it by the end of the week and had thus been unable to cast it correctly due to some lack of understanding.

Silence? I was not sure what you meant.

The vocal component of spells was largely a crutch that many mages had because they were unable to focus their minds solely on the spells they were casting. While it was possible to add a silencing component to the spell, I realized that was not what you wanted. You wanted a spell that caused targets to be unable to cast spells for a certain period of time, correct?

I theorized this was possible if, instead of using residual energies for damage, I had used it to simply apply a sort of magical energy disrupting element to the spell. It would certainly last longer than the single moment of intense pain that a target would feel from their own magical energies fighting against them, but it would not last too long. This kind of effect required a precision that would necessitate me to constantly exert energies and focus on the target to keep them 'silenced' as you said. But I realized that due to the target's own natural resistance, then the duration of the 'silence' would then cost exponentially more power… to maintain… unless… I would need to do more research on live test subjects for this, but I doubted any mages would allow me to test this.

If I was right, then perhaps it would be possible to permanently take away a target's magical channeling ability? I was not sure. I had not been able to replicate this 'silencing' effect on anyone because… well, I didn't think I should be just wildly experimenting on the apprentices of the city. That was… wrong, right? Right?!

I taught Nico the 'Colored Lights' spell and he has been drawing pictures of me, him, and my _still_ _unnamed_ Water Elemental in the air for the last few days now. He seemed rather happy to be able to cast spells like me for some reason.

I also heard from some street gossip that several orc internment camps had been attacked, but very few human soldiers were actually harmed. However, all of the orcs seemed to have disappeared after the battles. There had been some talk of some orc named 'Doomhammer' coming around and taking the reins of the orc leadership.

I sent a letter to Chief Executive Officer Nozzlespring yesterday, but I have had no word from him yet.

* * *

So… I completed learning the spell. Yes, it was that spell. I learned Master Antonidas' 'Arcane Mind' spell. How exactly did it help me remember my memories? Memories were a tricky thing and very few even thought it possible to pluck such things out of others' minds through pure, arcane magic.

So what exactly did this spell do? It created a mind that mirrored mine. It was like having two of me at the same time. But that was just a side effect of allowing the artificial mind to be created in the first place. It was only when the spell ended did I realize how broken my mind was. For you had to understand: the spell allowed me to reabsorb all of the thoughts and memories of the arcane mind.

…_all_ of the thoughts and _memories_.

For what memories that I consciously recognized, they were simply merged into my own and reinforcing what I had already known. But for those that I did not realize I had… well, it was an enlightening experience.

The past came at me in pieces. Only the memorable pieces were recognizable, the dull, boring memories of hours upon hours of experimentation, meditation, and study were tucked away without much of my attention. But what of the memories that stood out?

It seemed like an eternity, but it was more like an instant. Many of my worst and best memories came to the fore. I saw embarrassing moments like when I had burnt the bottom of Arthas' pants in frustration. I saw the first time Kael'thas _proposed _to me. I saw the moment I was accepted by Antonidas. I saw the first time I had mastered the Water Elemental spell. I saw deeper… the moment when my eldest brother died, the days after mother died, the first time I channeled the arcane…

How was it possible for me to express all of this? I _remembered_, but not nearly everything. I remembered my past, at the very least. I knew my family and I knew how little the power I actually held in Kul Tiras. I knew my duties, the duties that others had piled up on my shoulders before I even knew of them. It was… stifling.

But at the same time, I felt free. I wasn't the person I was before; I now knew it was possible for me to pursue what I wanted. With my past known to me, you would expect me to be similar, right? But I did not remember the countless hours I spent memorizing spells. I did not remember the years I spent studying the way the universe worked. Of course, these insights were still within me. But I didn't think I would let this define me. And so, these memories lifted some invisible burden from my shoulders.

It was a good feeling.

Looking through my personal research notes, I found that I had a different theory than what the Assistant Professor had in mind. He wanted to draw from local sources, but in alternate realities. Supposedly this allowed him to a source of infinite power, since all locations have a limit on how much magical power they contained. I remembered vaguely that I thought breaking through parallel dimensions was as energy consuming as breaking into different periods of time…

These notes reminded me of my thoughts. I had wanted to try something different: to draw energy from different points in time. But of course, my notes were just doodles of half solved equations and unproven theories.

After experiencing the 'Arcane Mind', I found my emotions rather dulled for a few hours. It was a surprisingly pleasant feeling, though I wondered why there was this side effect. It wasn't as if I had my emotions removed, it was just that I was in control of what I was feeling. How peculiar…

I took off Kael's necklace for now. I now kept it in a little jewelry box I found in my restroom.

An orc internment camp was attacked this week north of the border to Stromgarde. News about this event was rather slowly trickling in, because they were coming up with wild tales of tree grappling infantry, mounts attacking their riders, and lightning shooting through the ranks. These were unreported acts of orc magic, since in the previous wars they used only dark, demonic magic. The official stance of Dalaran was that these were wild rumors because that was what the commanding officer in charge of the area told King Terenas. Since King Terenas was ruler of Lordaeron and at the head of the Alliance, the rest of the kingdoms fell in line in agreement. It was politics, after all. The worst part of the news, which left me wanting to smash something, was that the one who convinced the Alliance that these were impossible things was the Lieutenant General Blackmoore.

My Water Elemental did not wish to give me his Kalimag name. Instead, he chose to be called 'Watson'. He seems to have taken an interest in learning about the Light. Watson also mentioned that there was a being who ruled over all Water Elementals in his home plane. This being, which Watson wished to remain unnamed due to its name calling its attention somehow, was supposedly as tall as the tallest tower of Dalaran.

Watson learned how to make fruit juice this week. He had been shooting orange juice and grape juice at Nico all morning. My lab was very sticky right now.

Ugh. It was a good thing Watson can just waltz in and clean everything up.

Antonidas told me to feed Nico some rocks with iron ore and calcium inside. Was it me or has Nico grown to be the size of a large dog after a week of eating these materials?

Nico didn't like learning 'Slow Fall' because he seemed to have some kind of innate magical ability to fly. It actually had little to do with his wings, though the wings seem to be designed for maneuverability. Instead of practicing the 'Slow Fall' spell, he has been making illusions of Fire Balls and Frostbolts at me. I think he was entered the rebellious period of his life.

Nico wasn't listening to me all that much anymore. He has been hiding whenever I looked for him and somehow, he learned the 'Blink' spell. He has been evading me for the last few days. I didn't know what to do. Sigh…

Was this what parenthood felt like? I wished I wasn't an adopted parent. Why was Nico evading me? Watson the Water Elemental was too much of an Alfred Copperworth to even tell me what was wrong. '_I swear! They must be trading notes or something! How does a Water Elemental learn how to speak in that accent so quickly?'_

Nozzlespring's letter arrived on the last day of the week. He was working on a gyrocopter that used explosions to move quicker. The first prototype was going to be tested on a mountain plateau a few miles north of Ironforge. He had also thought about creating a permanent portal, but such a thing would be too energy intensive and too costly in reagents to maintain. He would need several mages to channel magical energy to it all day long to keep it running! Nozzlespring also asked me if I thought we should bring 'Nozzlespring's' to the Ironforge Stock Exchange. Apparently he wanted to reduce our shares of the company down to 40 percent each, while selling 20 percent to be publicly traded (though apparently a good half of that would be owned by the royal family of Ironforge) to raise capital to build a workshop dedicated to making these expanded bags. He also mentioned that he was planning to build two new shops, one in Stormwind City and the other in Lordaeron, using the money that we could raise. Apparently the revenue this month was several times of last month's because one of the suppliers of thought to raise the prices, but the main military forces within Ironforge also contracted 'Nozzlespring's' to be their exclusive supplier and…

… all of these business talks were making me dizzy, so I wondered what I should do about this. I thought I didn't have to take an active role? I supposed that it was possible that Chief Executive Officer Nozzlespring (apparently also President and Chairman of the Board of Directors) was just rambling. I guess I knew too little about enterprises and businesses to really know what he was talking about. Should I accept?

I spent a few hours wandering around Dalaran, though it was a wasted effort to keep myself incognito. You had to understand, Brilliance Aura shone really brightly in the night time. I had been pondering about the 'silence' effect that you wanted me to achieve when I ran into the high elf sorceress Kilnar Goldensword. It was very awkward for both of us.

* * *

In the beginning of the week, I sent Nozzlespring a letter about using leylines as a means of keeping the portals open. I had a feeling that his last letter had been about how to keep the portals open with leylines. Or at least, since all mages drew on them anyways… Hm… It has not been tried to directly tie a portal to a leyline. Hopefully, this won't blow up in my face or something.

Attached was a note from me, telling Nozzlespring that I accepted his plan of selling a minority of the shares of the company. He seems to be more capable at such things than I was anyway. I thought to tell him to just not bother updating me, but I thought against it. I never knew when I might need to know about the company

Even with a really big bag, I wasn't exactly capable of bringing my entire laboratory with me. More importantly the most important resource I had here, Master Antonidas and the other mages of Dalaran, were not something I could take with me to Tarren's Mill.

I felt like I was abandoning something by moving out to go to some no-name small town like that, but… argh, fine! I would listen to you for now about this because you seemed to know more, but you would do well not to expect me to be happy about it. I might like Tari, but I had only known her for a week. Since I regained my memories, I haven't even met my father yet, let alone anyone else I used to know, like Prince Arthas.

But in the end, what I concluded was that it was impossible to take "everything I needed to continue my studies" elsewhere. Of course, I could take the bare minimum to study simple spells of evocation, but otherwise, I would be rather stranded.

Another problem with your plan was that _I was still the apprentice of Master Antonidas_. When I told him my plans to go to Tarren's Mill, he accepted it, but asked me "How long will you be there?" What was I supposed to respond, when you told me to take "everything"? I was hesitant to leave out information, but I was able to at least somewhat bluff out a "I'll be there to recover the rest of my memories". Antonidas knew I was up to something nevertheless, because he added that if I were not to return in one week, he would assume that the apprenticeship has been canceled.

Canceled!

This was becoming more and more of an ill-thought of idea. Of course, I cared about Tari, but what if you were all wrong? What if there was no orcs attacking Durnholde Keep? What if Tari was never in any danger? What if…

…Sigh. There was no use questioning this, but I still felt horrible. This stress had been building up in me for the last few weeks. The constantly moving back and forth has not helped make my life stable. In a fit of annoyance, I started throwing my things left at right before realizing that both Nico and Watson were staring at me with frightened expressions (yes, even the Water Elemental can express fear). It was a bad way to start a week, but what could I do?

You told me that soon my world would be ending, that some abominations too hideously powerful to even fathom would appear and sweep over Lordaeron and corrupt or kill anyone I knew. This was a heavy burden and it was tiring to keep this all bottled in. But of course, I could. And if what I was doing was helping people, then I would do it. But it was still… stressful.

Even moving was stressful. It was another headache just waiting to explode. Nico threw a fit the day I told him we were staying at least one week in Tarren's Mill. He didn't want to go back apparently.

"Nico, we're going to go visit 'Aunt Tari', are you ready?" I called out from the door. What was taking the little drake so long?

From somewhere in the bathroom, Nico called out, "Mah, Ah'll bee done latah! You go ohn ahead!"

"Nico, it's been several weeks since we've last seen Tari! She could be hurt for all you know! Do you really want the last thing you remember of the woman who fed you and clothed you to be 'I'll see her later'?"

"Buht Maaah!" Nico whined.

Somewhere in the background, Watson the Water Elemental gurgled softly like the sound of boiling water, "And this is why I don't have children."

"Quiet you," I hissed at my elite elemental combat butler as I strode back into the apartment and towards the bathroom door.

Watson somehow reddened slightly before gurgling apologetically in more standard volume, "I apologize, my lady. You were not supposed to hear that. Or what I'm about to think aloud next. That is…" I quickly tuned him out.

I knocked on the bathroom door gently, "Nico? You know we can't just stay indoors forever."

"Bah… buht Ah dohn't wannah…" Nico whined, biting back a sob before the bathroom door creaked open slowly. He looked like he was trying to cry, but apparently dragons weren't built with the ability to leak tears. Instead, he was coughing out golden sand-stuffs. It had already turned my small bathtub into a pile of sparkling sand.

Nico has grown much bigger since I changed his diet. I didn't know if this was because he was originally a grown dragon or if this was actually the average growing speed of a dragon of his subspecies, but when he stood on his hind legs, he was as tall as me. However, this height did not make him any more cowed when he saw my rather unimpressed expression.

My heart nearly broke from the soft whine that came from the back of his throat. I didn't know how he did it, but whenever he made that noise and opened his eyes wide, I felt like clay to be molded in his claws.

I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. This was far too early in my life span for me to be concerned about children like this, but here I was. "Nico Bolas," I muttered his full name. This seemed to cause his wings to fold in and his shoulders to slump further. I reached out and caressed his neck. He seemed to like it when I scratched below his jaw. "You're growing up fast, but I still care for you no matter what. Now, what's wrong?"

"Ah'm ah Drahgon," Nico growled slowly with a ferocity that shocked me into blinking in confusion.

I nodded, "So you are. What's wrong with that?"

"Ah dohn't wannah beh a Drahgon. Ah wannah beh ah normahl boy." He looked away from me. Was he ashamed of being a dragon? I couldn't quite believe it.

"Oh, you silly boy," I sighed and hugged him close. He was not used to this kind of contact. Apparently dragons were not built physically or mentally for hugging. During the first time I hugged him after he learned how to speak fluently enough to express his thoughts, he told me that he thought I was going to bite his neck. Even now, he still flinched when I initiated the hug before slowly settling into it. "What's wrong with being a dragon? Many people wish they were dragons."

"Not Ah! Ah wannah beh like you, Muhm. Why ahm Ah a Drahgon?" Nico finally turned back to me. He felt so sad, from the way he looked into my eyes.

I didn't know what to do. What do I say to that? Objectively, there was a lot of things different between a dragon and a human, but at this point I didn't think I cared. Was this the stress talking or the love? I didn't know. I just knew that I still couldn't feel right calling Nico my 'son'. I didn't think I would ever call him that, but I still needed to reassure him somehow, so I spoke truthfully, "Nico. Nico, look at me. I don't care if you are a dragon or a human. It doesn't matter. You're still my… mine. I loved you and cared for you, and nothing will change that. Do you understand?"

"…Yus, muhm. Ah'm sohrry for making a fuhss…" He dragged his feet out of the bathroom.

I nodded tiredly, "Alright, let's get everything we need and we can go."

Did you know that Nico was the size of a small pony? Well, he was big enough to carry me already, so I rode on his back to Tarren's Mill from Durnholde. Watson trailed behind us at a distance close enough to protect but far enough to be respectful.

I felt rather ill from my short talk with Antonidas. He seemed to expect me to return to learning from him again once I had regained my memories. It wasn't a bad apprenticeship. He was the most knowledgeable being in Dalaran in the fields of magic. I had learned many things from him before… this. After regaining my memories, I realized many of the more recent ones were of studying from him.

It was frightening to me that he would let me go. It felt like rejection. It hurt something within me just to think about this. It was hard to hold back my sobs. He had been confused about why I was going to Tarren's Mill. Was I being sentimental about some woman I've only met for one week? Was there something I was hiding from him? He seemed to suspect many things about my motives, but he didn't say anything.

He only watched me sadly. And for some reason, seeing his expression as he watched me walk away had hurt me the most.

The ride to Tarren's Mill was a quiet and speedy affair. It was over in less than one hour, because both Nico and Watson were capable of moving even faster than before. Along the way, Watson told me that the men who sneaked into my room that one night were men wearing heavy, dark leathers. He couldn't recognize who they were, but they might have been trying to kill Nico, because they had brought along small nets and skinning tools. There was not much I could deduce from just that, though the only people who knew of Nico were the Foxtons and they only reported to Lieutenant General Blackmoore.

When I arrived at Tarren's Mill, many of the townsfolk stared in a mixture of awe and fear at Nico. But seeing that I was standing before the dragon and I had a water elemental behind me as well, they probably thought of me as a traveling Archmage and quickly left me to my business. The town itself was small, consisting of only around forty buildings of stone and wood, with only about half of them reaching above two floors. I found the Foxton's home rather quickly.

When I arrived, I found only Tari's mother (what was her name again…?) sitting at the dining table looking stricken. She did not even notice I had entered her home.

I knocked on the side of the door, "Excuse me? Mrs. Foxton?"

She shook and looked up like a frightened forest animal. Then she began to cry, "Y-you! W-why are you here?"

"Why can't I visit?" I wondered with a sinking feeling in my stomach. "What's wrong?"

"O-oh… Lady P-Proudmoore," Mrs. Foxton whimpered pathetically, "I-It's my daughter!"

Oh, come on! "What's wrong with Tari, ma'am?" I inquired.

"S-she's been… they found her! With that beast!" Mrs. Foxton said, as if she had been personally betrayed, "They were in the woods! Together! W-why would she do that when she had Master Blackmoore? O-oh… Master Blackmoore has already locked her up…"

I… I hate you guys. Why did you have to be right?

... Oh, alright. I didn't hate you guys. But I really wished Tari wasn't in trouble. This… this wasn't good news at all. Now what was going to happen? What in the hells was I supposed to do? I had no jurisdiction here! I wasn't even an empowered diplomat of Kul Tiras, despite my heritage and title. What could I do for Tari… Oh, this was such a mess!

I couldn't help but mutter, "I really want to punch out that jerk now."

* * *

"Good day, Missus Foxton," I nodded quickly and left the woman quickly. She didn't know anything and all she was doing… I didn't realize this before, but she had been trying to get into my good graces whenever we interacted. It was rather annoying at times.

I weighed the two objectives: to avoid public implication of any wrongdoing on my part and rescue Tari. It wasn't so much that I cared deeply for Tari at this point, but I didn't feel right standing by if Blackmoore were to kill her. There was the soft nagging whisper of my own voice that said Tari would be a good ambassador between the two races, but I ignored it for now.

If the grim, dark future was to occur as you painted it for me, then I need to have a good reputation. For me to lead… I didn't want to be a leader. It seemed like a lot of responsibility and a drain on my time. Would I have no time left to do what I wished, to study and research like I wanted to? But I would do it if I must…

However, if I were to become a leader of humans, then I should not have a bad reputation. And people like Blackmoore excelled at ruining just that, especially if I were to be seen helping Tari or associating with the orcs. A bad reputation could potentially ruin any efforts I try to make before I try to make it. I knew that much at least.

From what I saw of Durnholde Keep weeks ago, I found that the keep was actually missing a majority of its soldiers. Seeing as there were orcish warbands attacking many of the settlements, I thought it likely that many of the soldiers were being deployed in other internment camps in the surrounding areas. Still, I knew that there were at least about 500 soldiers within Durnholde Keep alone. Of that number, about 10 to 20 were monks or priests of the Light, who worked along the army as healers and councilors. I did not remember seeing or sensing any mage presence in the area, and there were no mentions of Blackmoore having mages in his employ either.

There were two inns in Tarren's Mill. This fact was in itself slightly surprising because of Tarren's Mill's small size (there couldn't have been more than 250 people living here by my estimation from dwelling sizes). One of them was an old building near the coast while the other was built on the northern edge of the town and on the edge of the mountainside. The northern inn was actually only one week old, and I knew that was where mage Shay was located.

I was unable to find out if Blackmoore had been imbibing alcohol during the day. He seemed to be drinking all the time, but it was foolish to bet on an opponent's failings to accomplish something.

From what I could hear, Durnholde has already sent out riders in all directions to gather soldiers. Apparently Blackmoore was planning some kind of military buildup in his keep. I was not sure I was relieved by this or not.

It was still early in the morning…


End file.
